JK Rowling has said that her family has been threatened as a result of her views on transgender issues. The Harry Potter author has become a controversial figure due to her views on gender and single-sex spaces, but has said she does not regret “standing up” for what she believes in.
The 57-year-old also hit out at the literary industry, claiming they had failed to “stand for the plurality of views.”
Speaking on The Witch Trials of JK Rowling podcast, she added that she will continue to speak on gender issues.
Ms Rowling said: “Although I don’t regret anything, I’ve had concerns for my family’s safety, and some of the threats haven’t been too amusing to me.
“There has been fall-out in my life, inevitably, but I still don’t regret standing up.”
She added she had “lost a degree of faith’ in the publishing industry, which is “the industry I know best.”
“I think there’s no hope that you will come out with your mental health intact or that you wouldn’t be offering false apologies.”
In the past, Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have all spoken in support of transgender people and sought to distance themselves from Ms Rowling’s views.
Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the movie franchise, was among the stars who supported Ms Rowling.
Ms Rowling also waded in on the political debate in Scotland this week as new Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf backs the SNP’s gender self-ID policy first introduced under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.
The policy was designed to make it easier for transgender people to change their identity, but it came under fire after Isla Bryson, a biologically male and double rapist, was initially sent to a female prison.
Ms Rowling was among the critics of the policy, and warned Mr Yousaf on Tuesday that he “will disappear through the ice.”
She added: “Humza Yousaf is the kid who just saw the skater in front of him disappear through the ice, but yells ‘watch me, everybody!’ while wobbling straight for the hole.”
