Daniel Radcliffe on JK Rowling criticism: I will continue to support LGBTQ rights

Daniel Radcliffe has said that he will continue to support the rights of LGBT+ people following criticism from Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

The actor, who played the wizard Harry Potter across the eight fantasy films in the series, was speaking following a critical report into the healthcare of children taking puberty blockers.

Rowling suggested, after the Cass Review was published in April, that she would not forgive the franchise’s stars, also including Emma Watson, if they apologised to her over their stance on trans issues.

Radcliffe responded by telling The Atlantic: “I will continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ people, and have no further comment than that.”

Acknowledging the impact of Rowling, he also said that “obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person”.

Radcliffe added: “But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”

During the interview, he also spoke about Rowling saying: “It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.”

After the Cass Report revealed that children had been let down due to a lack of research and evidence on hormones and puberty blockers, Rowling was asked on X if Radcliffe and Watson would be “safe in the knowledge” she would forgive them if they offered her a public apology.

Both stars had previously been outspoken in support of transgender people.

Rowling responded by saying: “Not safe, I’m afraid. Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single-sex spaces.”

The Scotland-based author, who has always denied being transphobic, had previously welcomed the review by Dr Hilary Cass, which said that young people have been caught up in a “stormy social discourse” and gender care is currently an area of “remarkably weak evidence”.

Since December 2019, Rowling has hit the headlines for her views on transgender issues and been criticised by fans of her novels and the world she created.

Radcliffe put out a statement in June 2020 through the LGBT suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project, saying “transgender women are women” and anything to the contrary “erases the identity and dignity” of people.

In a series of social media posts that same month, Watson, who played Hermione Granger, said: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.

“I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.”

Rupert Grint, known for the role of Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series; as well as Eddie Redmayne, who stars in Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts films, have also been outspoken in support of trans people following Rowling’s comments.