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#IStandWithJKRowling trends as author returns human rights award after RFK's daughter calls her transphobic

Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award group's president Kerry Kennedy slammed the author's tweets as 'transphobic' and 'deeply troubling'

Hours after Harry Potter author JK Rowling returned her 2019 Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organization honor, several social media users took to Twitter to support the author with the hashtag #IStandWithJKRowling. Rowling returned the human rights award after the group's president, Robert F Kennedy's daughter Kerry Kennedy, slammed the author's tweets as "transphobic" and "deeply troubling."

Rowling, over the past few months, has been slammed by many, including some of Harry Potter's cast, for her controversial tweets, which have been deemed transphobic. The author, weeks ago, had also walked back on her praise of Stephen King after he spoke out against her anti-transgender sentiments. King, on June 29, had taken to Twitter to write: "Trans women are women," after a fan of the author asked him to address "the TERF tweet," referring to Rowling's social media posts earlier in June, which was considered transphobic by many. Rowling, after King's tweet, deleted a previous tweet where she had praised the author.

Shortly after Rowling returned her award, many of her supporters took to social media to back her decision. Conservative writer Candace Owen was amongst them, who wrote: "This week in transgender delusions—@jk_rowling has been bullied into returning a humanitarian award bc she refuses to pretend that biological men can be women. Essentially, a mob of men just forced a woman into submission. Dear Feminism—where you at? #IStandWithJKRowling"

Owen followed her tweet with another, writing: "ONLY WOMEN CAN GIVE BIRTH. ONLY WOMEN CAN MENSTRUATE. ONLY WOMEN CAN HAVE MISCARRIAGES. ONLY MARXIST PSYCHOPATHS BELIEVE ANY OF THE ABOVE STATEMENTS ARE “HATEFUL”. #IStandWithJKRowling."

The hashtag, however, took a turn within minutes when pro LGBTQ+ social media users took over the hashtag to bash Rowling and her stance on transgender women. "#IStandWithJKRowling is trending again so i would just like to say: trans women are women. trans men are men. & to all my trans pals out there: you are valid. i support you. i love you. i will fight alongside you no matter what," one user wrote.

Another added: "#IStandWithJKRowling It's disgusting to see my childhood hero turn into a transphobic piece of shit. Trans rights are human rights!!! Anyone who says otherwise can f*** off."

"#IStandWithJKRowling No I don’t but I do stand with trans people, they’re human and deserve just as much life and happiness as everyone else!" a third wrote.

"If you #IStandWithJKRowling Then you stand against me and everyone like me. Period. You stand for ignorance. Bigotry. Hate. Intolerance. You stand with her? Then you don't care about the pain and suffering of every trans and nb person out there. In short, you're a bigot. Period," another user wrote.

The hashtag began trending on Twitter hours after Kerry Kennedy denounced Rowling, writing on the website: "I have spoken with JK Rowling to express my profound disappointment that she has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and non-binary people, undermining the validity and integrity of the entire transgender community. One that disproportionately suffers from violence, discrimination, harassment, and exclusion and, as a result, experiences high rates of suicide, suicide attempts, homelessness, and mental and bodily harm. Black trans women and trans youth, in particular, are targeted."

"From her own words, I take Rowling's position to be that the sex one is assigned at birth is the primary and determinative factor of one's gender, regardless of one's gender identity — a position that I categorically reject," she added.

Rowling, however, denied the accusation of transphobia against her. She instead restated her controversial stance criticizing the gender “affirmative model," citing “a growing number” of “experts and whistleblowers” who are “concerned about the huge rise in the numbers of girls wanting to transition.”