Noted transphobe JK Rowling’s new book features a cross-dressing serial killer

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I kept seeing “JK Rowling” trending on Twitter for hours and hours, but whenever I looked at the hashtag, I just saw people clowning on Rowling for being hateful and transphobic, like always. But it turns out that there is a new Rowling thing, and it just happens to be (you guessed it) hateful against a marginalized community. Rowling has a new book coming out from her nomme de plume Robert Galbraith called Troubled Blood. Guess what it’s about? A cross-dressing serial killer. *deep sigh*

No longer satisfied with simply repeatedly expressing her transphobic opinions on Twitter and in 3,600-word screeds on her personal website, J.K. Rowling now appears to be bringing her TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) logic to a bookshelf near you via her new fictional novel, Troubled Blood, out Tuesday.

According to an early review in The Telegraph, Troubled Blood—the fifth installment in Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series written under the pen name Robert Galbraith—deals with the cold case of a woman who disappeared in 1974 and is believed to be the victim of Dennis Creed, “a transvestite serial killer.” (Transvestite is considered an outdated and derogatory term for cross-dressing, which is not the same as being trans.) The review goes on to say, “One wonders what critics of Rowling’s stance on trans issues will make of a book whose moral seems to be: never trust a man in a dress.”

This also isn’t the first time Rowling’s anti-trans opinions have found their way onto the pages of this particular series. In the second Cormoran Strike book, The Silkworm, a woman named Pippa stalks detective Strike before attempting to stab him. Strike traps her in his office, revealing her identity as a trans woman, with Rowling adding in a description of her Adam’s apple and hands. The detective then tells Pippa that prison “won’t be fun for you.… Not pre-op.” (Rowling’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

[From Vanity Fair]

At this point, I’m actually quite convinced that JK Rowling has been an anti-LGBTQ Karen this entire time, and that she’s actively being a f–king close-minded brat when it comes to these issues. It’s not that g–damn difficult to simply open your mind and sit down and research stuff like cross-dressing, transgenderism and how people within those communities are more likely to be marginalized and the victims of crimes rather than the perpetrators. Rowling makes me sick at this point, and it reminds me of how she’s said (over the past year) that she’s done a lot of “research” on transgenderism. I wonder if this was what she was researching – how to offend and demonize cross-dressers and transgender people.

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79 Responses to “Noted transphobe JK Rowling’s new book features a cross-dressing serial killer”

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  1. VS says:

    This woman seemed like a rational person, what’s going on her? looks like she is voluntarily killing her career; I don’t think the people she wants to appeal to read books

    • Snazzy says:

      Thing is, there’s a ton of people who support this point of view. I know even in my own circle, people who I thought were liberal and open minded have outed themselves as Flaming TERFs. It’s depressing, but she will not be hurt by this

      • Merricat says:

        Her reputation is seriously damaged among all but a small portion of society. She has destroyed her legacy. But she has a ton of money, so I guess it doesn’t matter to her that she’s broken the hearts of so many young people.

    • KL says:

      She’s surrounded herself with yes-men, and twitter is the only place she exposes herself to those who don’t benefit by propping up her worldview. That’s why she thinks it’s a hate mob.

      And, as people have mentioned elsewhere in the comments, transphobia is more mainstreamed in Britain. For reasons I’ll admit I don’t fully understand, that seems to be where all the really vile “liberal” intolerance gains momentum in academia and even at Pride.

      • Nanny to the Rescue says:

        Not just Britain, most of continental Europe (not sure about Scandinavia or France*).
        If you even sugest trans women might be women, you’ll get rolled eyes even from most of the left, let alone the right. It’s not a fun place/time for trans people.

        * French feminists even sent a letter of support to Rowling last time.

    • bluemoonhorse says:

      Is her Robert Galbraith’s books doing well? I thought they flopped? Oh well, I won’t be reading her under any name.

      • Nanny to the Rescue says:

        AFAIK they were never even closely as successful as Harry Potter, but she still did quite well.

        Time will tell about the latest book.

        This outrage is still all free advertising for her book, tho. So she might have done it on purpuse. All of it.

      • Imogene says:

        I think they’ve always done well- not Harry Potter by any means but I don’t think she was trying to replicate that. I, for one, love the books and had this one on preorder. I returned it upon realizing that it was delivered to my kindle – I can’t support her as much as I really wanted to learn what happens with Strike and Robin 🙁

      • bobslaw says:

        They’ve been adapted into a pretty successful TV series….standard crime thriller fare, though.

      • Hayy says:

        Let her get in line behind all the other Trans as Psychopathic killer scripts: Silence of the Lambs, Ace Ventura Pet Detective & sadly Zoolander II– kids’ movies (yes admit these appeal to tweens more than any other group)

  2. Darla says:

    This sounds like Dressed to Kill. Does anyone remember that movie? It’s very old, but I remember seeing it. Great cast. Very, VERY outdated. This is so stupid.

  3. SJR says:

    Clearly she is out of new ideas. This plot has been done to death decades ago.
    Go ahead and retire.

  4. Aang says:

    Weird hill to die on. Trans people are so very much at the bottom of the list of what I consider threatening. I just don’t get it.

    • lucy2 says:

      I don’t either. I don’t understand that mentality to begin with, but even more so with her being such a public figure. Given all the pushback she rightfully got on it, you’d think she’d just be quiet and enjoy her piles of cash. Instead she keeps doubling down and making it worse! It’s awful.

    • jessamine says:

      This exactly. I could see someone with her privilege bubble maybe not having trans rights as an absolute top priority advocacy-wise, but what kind of semi-reasonable person (let alone one with her resources and exposure) is actually threatened by the trans community? And to the point of repeatedly speaking out. It is baffling and terrible.

    • MaryContrary says:

      The same. Good god-how horrible a person do you have to be to bully people who have the highest rates of being discriminated against, assaulted and murdered?

    • bluemoonhorse says:

      They die on this hill because they think no one will stand up for the trans community. Rowling has revealed herself to be another conservative but can’t come out of the closet fully because she would endanger her Harry Potter cash cow.

      • Nanny to the Rescue says:

        She’s not conservative.

        It’s been mentioned above: in (parts of) Europe and Britain transphobia is normal among liberals too.

        This is important to understand to properly fight it.

      • Honora says:

        Good point Nanny. these days people pick and choose their views instead of subscribing to either left or right. Which is good I think. She is transphobic. She hasn’t shared conservative opinions about anything else though.

      • bluemoonhorse says:

        @Nanny people can have a mix of beliefs but IMO no I don’t consider liberal. She pasted on the idea that Hermoine was black (but of course where was that representation in the movies?) and that Dumbledore was gay. She’s fake and has been for a long time. She throws out liberal talking points to keep her US base loyal. JMO. Don’t trust her a mile.

      • Nanny to the Rescue says:

        @bluemoonhorse Her political views on immigration, abortion, environment etc. were always very left-wing, she also gave sh!tloads of money to the Labour party and she openly criticizes President Orange Tan often.
        She’s considered liberal in everything but the trans issue, and even here – I don’t agree with this, I’m just trying to explain – this is considered good for women’s rights, so it’s not considered a right-wing stance, it’s just “the other left-wing stance”.

        Trying to paint a liberal as a conservative might feel good, but if you want to change their mind or at least educate people in a similar bubble (and again, very common here), that will lead you nowhere. Not only that, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot, because people will find you irrational. Even other liberals who might agree with you on trans rights but don’t think strongly about them.

  5. Sojaschnitzel says:

    Fcuk her. What a nasty, vile person.

  6. k says:

    Her alias name says it all. Robert Galbraith Heath was a psychiatrist known for gay conversion therapy.

    • My3cents says:

      Wow, thanks did not know that.

    • Snowslow says:

      Oh lord 🤦🏽‍♀️

    • TQ says:

      Holy sh*t, I didn’t realize she took her alias from this guy. Well that’s pretty clearly an admission that she’s anti-LGBTQ. Eff her.

    • M says:

      Robert Galbraith was also a 16th century Scottish judge, currently there’s at least one MD and one actuary by that name. At least that’s what Google tells me. Robert Galbraith Heath only recently shows up in connection with JK Rowling recently in articles wondering if that was on purpose, despite that JKR explained years ago how she choose that name. I think it’s reaching to claim JKR named herself after him nearly a decade ago. Her statements make her opinion very clear without making the connection to some obscure American scientist no one had ever heard of until a few days ago

    • Sass says:

      Holy shirt! Did not know this! Yikes

    • Abby says:

      Omg no freaking way. Did not know that.

  7. emmy says:

    Girlfriend needs to educate herself Pronto or at the very least watch Disclosure.

    What a lazy, gross, and damaging trope to pick. She really just keeps on digging that hole.

  8. fch says:

    UK based transphobia is alarming and growing and is rather different from the US conception of it, which has people extra confused over this i think

    • Imogene says:

      https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/opinion/britain-transphobia-labour-party.html I was wondering what you meant so I looked it up and found this article for anyone else interested.

      • Liane says:

        Thanks for posting this. It’s very eye opening and gives insight into Rowling’s stubbornness on the topic.

      • Maida says:

        Imogene, thank you for linking to that article — truly eye-opening. Makes me wonder if Rowling has been surprised by the amount of pushback on her transphobia that she’s received from non-UK people, since it sounds like transphobia is more “mainstream” there.

      • Honora says:

        Maida… she gets support in North America. A man put up a billboard (he had to pay) in Vancouver saying we love JK Rowling but it was taken down. People saw it as a micro agression. Boomers, no matter the continent, aren’t going to find it as easy to accept trans culture unless they’re already liberal , surrounded by liberalism and have the luxury to have time to think about it clearly. And even then they may not have the same views about which rights are Necessary as the younger allies do.

  9. Mika says:

    She is a hateful human being.

  10. T says:

    She just makes me sick. Her hypocrisy disgusts me. So done. I will never read another book of hers or see another movie made from her stories that she will profit from. She doesn’t deserve our money, time or respect.

  11. OriginalLala says:

    What a complete and utter trash person.

  12. Keroppi says:

    Beyond Rowling, who was the editor or people on her team who read this and green-lit publication? Or is the thinking – just let her write books and let people know her terrible views?

    • Amber says:

      I think people stopped saying “no” to her a long time ago (see also: the Cursed Child Play, the Fantastic Beasts movies–they’re all terrible stories). I also think that sadly there are more people who align with her beliefs on this than we’d like to believe. This book will still make money. There are a lot of people in the world who are not on Twitter who won’t know about her remarks, who will buy it because they’re familiar with her pen name.

      • Merricat says:

        I was surprised by how awful Cursed Child was–I mean, genuinely, truly awful, in spite of the wonderful actors. Rowling is not a great writer.

  13. Jodi says:

    JK Rowling is a trash human and i will continue to shout that from the mountain tops.

  14. Sass says:

    Not surprised because

    1. Transphobe is transphobic
    2. She’s not exactly known for anything worth reading outside of the HP universe and lazy, overdone shit like this is why. A cross dressing serial killer? Is this 1994? Put down the vhs copy of Silence of the Lambs, Jo.

    • Coco says:

      I was just thinking, ‘Did her babysitter play Silence of the Lambs and it traumatized her?’ But she was mid-20s when the movie came out so…

  15. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    What is wrong with her and where has she been? Granted, I don’t, and haven’t, had many trans friends, but those who are have been the best friends I’ve ever had. I mean…through thick and thin, best and worst times, they’re solid. And not one I’ve ever met, seen, known about, etc. has ever shown aggressiveness. Anger yes. But a perpetrator? Never.

  16. detritus says:

    She’s hell bent on proving she’s an anachronism.

    Deplatform her hate. I can’t believe she’s still allowed to tweet her hatespeech

  17. Chanteloup says:

    JK Rowling can fuck right off. Probably projecting her own wish to be known as a serial killer. She’s got blood on her hands.

  18. Milkweed says:

    I’d rather be friends with trans people who are self-aware, generous, and have beautiful spirits than anti-trans people with so much hate and fear in their hearts.

  19. Elizabeth says:

    It’s so disappointing that an author I truly enjoyed when younger (Harry Potter, never read her other books) is a raging bigot.

    It’s frankly weird to me that she chooses a male pseudonym and a gender-neutral pen name if she’s so against cross-dressing and transgender people.

    • Lizzie Bathory says:

      I adored the Harry Potter books & am so disappointed as a fan. And I’m heartbroken for the trans people who might have connected with those stories, only to be betrayed by JKR.

      And I agree there is something really weird about her writing under male & gender neutral (or ambiguous) names while simultaneously decrying trans rights as a movement to cancel “womanhood.” Like, what is going on with her?

  20. Tiffany says:

    My friend just said they want to sue Rowling’s for the price of the HP books and monies spent on the movies on top of time and basically fooling them into thinking that she was a rational person who lifted up children reading books at a time that it was declining. They. Are. Pissed.

    I said, ‘You know, you do you. Go for it.’.

  21. Kathy Kack says:

    She is truly terrible. I have gotten permanently suspended from Twitter for calling her a c you next Tuesday.
    I have no regrets. Lol

    • Aidevee says:

      You got yourself banned and had your voice blocked because you called a woman a derogatory word? Wow. Well done, I guess!?

  22. Abby says:

    I really enjoyed this book series (Not as much as HP but it’s still great for the crime thriller genre) and I am so mad at her for burning down her empire to die on this hill. She’s so tone deaf. For two seconds I was bummed that I don’t feel like I could read this book because she’s a trash person, but then I read the premise, and I’m really not interested. It’s a shame.

    I wish she would realize the harm she’s doing. She could do so much with her platform! Instead she is hateful.

  23. backyard mogul says:

    Ugh… I loved the other books in this series (they are completely different from HP stuff) and was looking forward to this one but I definitely won’t be reading it or any others to follow.

    • Geeena says:

      Right? It doesn’t sound clever, or like a fresh take at all on an archetype that is outdated, offensive, and part of a larger system of violence and oppression.

  24. Ferdinand says:

    Well Psycho is also about a man who dresses as a woman to kill.

    I guess I’m this day and age, and with what we know about JK hate speech things are different.

    All in all, isn’t that what he does by using a man’s name pseudonym?

  25. Honora says:

    Um isn’t she giving away the books spoiler?
    Really tired of these kind of stories.
    Especially since it wasn’t something that ever was happening. It’s not an interesting twist. As a mystery show lover this is one thing that really ruins a good mystery! She’s doubling down because people criticized her liking that tweet. I wonder what she will do next and if she’ll ever be like oops my bad and go the other direction

  26. Liz version 700 says:

    There is bigoted and then there is this. What a vile disgusting vicious woman

  27. BRobertson says:

    Definitely sad to see her go full-Glinner. It amazes me how adamant she is on dying on this hill, especially when people who have been close to her (Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson, other HP cast and others who worked with her) have spoken out for trans rights.

  28. Sarah says:

    She has money and influence, she could take positive steps to help people so what does she do? Wage a concerted campaign against a marginalised group who are already at high risk of being abused/assaulted/murdered and have shockingly high suicide rates. What is it that makes her so nasty? How do you sleep at night?

  29. BL says:

    Well she turned out to be a real asshole, huh.

  30. A says:

    Not only is this book transphobic, it’s also weirdly and deeply racist, particularly Islamophobic. So she’s checking off all the disgusting boxes in one go, which makes total sense.

    • Nanny to the Rescue says:

      Wait, racist and Islamophobic too?

      This is the first time I see this mentioned! What did she write on these topics in the book?

      • A says:

        In one of the excerpts from the book that’s floating out there, it talks about how the suspected killer could have potentially been using a burqa to disguise themselves as a woman in order to escape detection. The exact quote states, “Can you think of another way of totally concealing your face and body that wouldn’t make people challenge you?”

        It sounds totally innocuous on the surface, and I get that, but honestly…it’s just such shit, because it has layers to it. Not only is it transphobic, the implication here also casts a great deal more suspicion on women who wear burqas, who are already being targeted for being visibly Muslim. Transphobes suspecting them of being men in disguise on top of that would just be another layer of shit on top of shit. It adds to the scrutiny and discrimination Muslim women already face in society. What JKR wrote is just grossly irresponsible on a lot of levels.

  31. Tiny says:

    I’m still in shock that she’s turning out to be this vile person. How awful do you have to be to kick somebody who’s already down, and then when everyone tells you you’re wrong to do it, you just kick harder? Truly despicable.

  32. Annie says:

    I just don’t understand what the hell is her problem. I never pictured her being anti LGBTQ. She wrote multiple story archs with sexual tension between male characters and she made Dumbledore gay. His storyline in book 6 implies he had a relationship with another man when he was young. But then fast forward and she’s this person who really has an agenda. Even her male pen name comes from a dude who advocated for conversion therapy decades ago. I don’t understand her. Doesn’t she know her fans anymore? A huge chunk of her fandom is LGBT.

  33. Reece says:

    I started taking all of my HP things and packing them away months ago (I keep finding stuff!) because of this and because I don’t have the heart to throw it out. Honestly a lot of it have great memories associated with it but has nothing to do with her in particular. But it is not enjoyable to wear my “House Pride” anymore.
    It has certainly been a study of how much money I have put into her and WB pockets.

  34. mew says:

    If I remember correctly, there was similar theme in TV-show Alienist. Burn them as well.

  35. Merricat says:

    Writing a book out of spite is maybe good therapy, but not good writing. It’s weird that she’s so hung up on it. I don’t think she understands what it means to be trans.

  36. Rhodabear says:

    Imho, she desperately wants to be a man. It’s usually the most homophobic/transphobic people struggling with their inner feelings of conflict. Religion plays a big part in the mental conditioning. Telling people they’re going to hell for being different is abhorrent.