JK Rowling Threatens To Sue Amnesty International Into Oblivion For Expressing An Opinion About A Charity She Funds

from the so-very-free-speechy dept

JK Rowling has spoken about how she wrote the first Harry Potter book while she was employed at Amnesty International and how much that experience influenced her writing, and how she learned “the power of human empathy” from working there. Rowling was also, you’ll recall, one of the high profile signers of the infamous Harper’s Letter on “open debate.”

Now she’s threatening to bankrupt Amnesty International for expressing an opinion about Beira’s Place, a “women only” charity Rowling created.

Amnesty International UK had released a report, expressing its well-supported opinion about so-called “anti-rights actors,” specifically calling out a number of groups that it believed, through their statements or actions, sought to “restrict human rights by undermining human rights protections in law and practice.” It had a section on “anti-gender” efforts by some groups which have targeted trans rights and pointed out that:

“Human rights are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. When the rights of one group are restricted, protections for others can also be weakened, even where the effects are not immediately visible.”

This should be a fairly non-controversial statement. But, the report named a number of organizations that it deemed to be “gender critical,” which are, in effect, organizations that have — through their words or actions — done damage to trans rights in particular, and the wider LGBTQ+ space.

No matter your stance on any of this, expressing an opinion about an organization should be seen as part of their free speech and… what’s the term Rowling used in the Harper’s letter? Right, “open debate.”

But, no, not here. One of the organizations that Amnesty mentioned was Beira’s Place, which Rowling helped create as an organization to provide support for female victims of sexual violence. However, aligned with Rowling’s transphobic views and campaigning, the organization proudly insists that it is for “women only.” Beira’s Place and the constant verbiage surrounding it about being for “women only” have certainly contributed to the sense that it is another part of Rowling’s transphobic mission to diminish and deny rights of transgender women.

To look at Rowling’s X feed, for example, is to witness a near never-ending stream of gleefully obnoxious and petty attacks on trans people who speak up for their own rights. I’d post examples, but I’d rather not give any more attention to that sort of hateful messaging.

Thus it’s entirely reasonable to have and express the opinion that Beira’s Place and other operations that refuse to recognize the rights of trans women (and trans men) are “anti-rights.” I mean, literally part of Beira’s Place’s messaging to the world has been its anti-trans stance.

After all, as the statement above notes, when you deny rights to one group, you are weakening rights for all. And, look, even if you somehow agree with Rowling, if you actually believed in free speech and “open debate” you should at least support Amnesty UK in expressing their opinion that being anti-trans is being anti-rights.

But Rowling seems to absolutely loathe any actual “open debate” regarding her views towards the trans community. Thus, she spoke out angrily about the Amnesty report, leading to a media fury, and causing the organization to pull it down. She has also demanded an apology and threatened to sue the organization:

Lawyers acting for the centre have threatened Amnesty with court action unless it permanently withdraws the report, publicly apologises to the blacklisted groups and commissions an external investigation into how it came to be published.

The letter said: “The [Amnesty] report has wrongly labelled all associated with Beira’s Place, including those accessing support as anti-rights bigots who are seeking to weaken human rights.

“This is a shocking way to describe those who are seeking help to overcome the trauma of sexual violence. There is no basis for these allegations, and our client, with the support of its founder JK Rowling, will not sit back and allow the reputation of Beira’s Place or those who access its support to be tarnished in this way.”

And to make it clear she seeks to burden Amnesty UK with as many costly lawsuits as possible, she’s offering to fund other organizations that wish to sue Amnesty International UK over this report.

That’s her tweeting:

Should any of the women’s organisations targeted by Amnesty UK’s recent ‘anti-rights’ blacklist wish to take legal action, applications can be made to the JK Rowling Women’s Fund.

So much for free speech and open debate, huh?

Rowling has a right to express her own bigotry and hateful views. But Amnesty International and anyone else should also be able to express their opinion that by her words and her deeds she is doing real harm to the rights of trans people worldwide. But Rowling is making every effort to shut that down.

I am sure that Rowling and her supporters will claim, ridiculously, that because she views Beira’s Place and her other anti-trans activism as “pro-women’s rights” that it is somehow defamatory to call it anti-rights. But that’s why it’s a protected opinion. Whether or not one’s views and actions are pro or anti-rights is, inherently, an opinion.

My opinion is that Rowling is a hateful, angry woman who has done tremendous harm to some of the most marginalized people in the world for no reason at all, and her wink wink nod nod “I’m just supporting women’s rights” bullshit as cover for that is both craven and pathetic. She has contributed to a hateful, anti-rights movement that has put millions of people at greater risk. That she is now seeking to effectively silence and potentially destroy the organization that she, herself, claims was so valuable in getting her to understand the value of human empathy is a particularly sad statement on where her life has taken her.

Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for literally any of her Harper’s Letter co-signers to call out her attacks on the organization’s speech, and threats to their existence for expressing an opinion she doesn’t like. Apparently, that kind of “open debate” is too much?

Filed Under: defamation, free speech, human rights, jk rowling, lgbtq, terfs, trans rights

Companies: amnesty international, beira’s place