The co-owners of New York City's historic Stonewall Inn have accused JK Rowling of using her global platform in ways they say have harmed LGBTQ+ people, arguing that rhetoric targeting trans people is contributing to a wider rollback of LGBTQ+ rights.
Speaking to The National today (8 July), Stonewall Inn co-owners Stacy Lentz and Kurt Kelly said Rowling's influence extends far beyond the UK. "JK Rowling, through her books and movie franchises and everything globally, has a platform and it has done damage," the pair said. "Even though she's based in Scotland, it's affected people globally. Now we've got to go back and educate people."
Lentz and Kelly also argued that transgender people have become "political fodder," saying they make up only about 1 percent of the population but are increasingly being used to divide voters. "I would say the 1 percent you have to worry about are the billionaires that are making us all divided at the bottom of the pile. That’s who’s taking away your rights,” they said.
The pair also criticised recent legal and political developments affecting transgender rights in both the UK and the US, including the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the legal definition of "woman" in the Equality Act refers to biological sex, as well as the recent US Supreme Court decision allowing states to ban transgender girls and women from participating in female school sports. Lentz described claims that transgender women pose a widespread threat in women's spaces as "misinformation," adding, "The belief that trans women are going in and attacking women in restrooms is a political myth that's just not happening."
Beyond transgender rights, Lentz warned that the current political climate could have broader implications for the LGBTQ+ community. "We're seeing a lot of conservative people thinking about overturning gay marriage or same-sex adoption and things that affect the broader communities," she said. Through their nonprofit, the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, the pair are working with businesses and organisations to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion year-round and preserve the legacy of the Stonewall uprising.
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