Harry Potter author JK Rowling has said she is not concerned about how the backlash to her position on transgender issues will affect her legacy, adding that anyone who thinks she is has 'profoundly' misunderstood her.
In a new podcast, The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, the writer said she 'never meant to upset anyone', but added: 'However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal.' Referring to fans who claim she has 'ruined' her legacy, Rowling said they 'could not have misunderstood me more profoundly'.
Rowling has faced extensive criticism for her views on gender identity and allowing trans women into women-only spaces, which some have labelled transphobic. She has denied being transphobic, saying she respects 'every trans person's right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them'.
The author also revealed she has received 'direct threats of violence', with people coming to her house where her children live and her address posted online. She said the police regarded these as 'credible threats'.
Rowling drew parallels between current critics and religious fundamentalists who burned her books in the early 2000s, stating: 'Book burners, by definition, have placed themselves across a line of rational debate... Burning, to me, is the last resort of people who cannot argue.'
