Why JK Rowling Doesn't Deserve Your Money

By Chris Revelle | Politics | March 22, 2023 |

By Chris Revelle | Politics | March 22, 2023 |

The easiest calculus there is in the world is when you realize someone is a bigot and, unless you agree with the bigot, you don’t support them, either in words, deeds, or money. Having watched many self-proclaimed allies claim that putting money in Just Kidding Rowling’s pocket doesn’t mean they’re not an ally to trans people, I have only this to say: it always seems to be as complicated as you need it to be. There is no reason to give money to a transphobe, especially one as rich and one with as big of a platform as Rowling’s. I read the books too, but something I loved as a child doesn’t mean much in the face of other people’s rights under assault. When you read that she sees continued Harry Potter success as an explicit endorsement of her transphobia, there’s no other way to look at it. Valuing a video game or a movie or a book over the rights and dignity of your fellow humans is definitely a choice you can make, but there are politics attached to that choice whether you like it or not.

In fact, Rowling’s presence within the general trans issues space feels like a misnomer. Why is the number one figure in trans issues right now a rich TERF? Much like recently-fled-from-Twitter Jesse Singal, it feels wrong that a cisgendered transphobe would become the go-to name in this sphere. With that in mind, let’s banish mention of proud bigot JK Rowling from the rest of this piece, and proud transphobe Singal too. Let them both stay in the past with their wrong, ugly views. Let’s talk about actual trans people without centering cis people or transphobes for once. Let’s talk about what we can do to help our fellow human beings who are currently denied rights and dignities that others enjoy.

Here are just some of the organizations that could use your money or time (feel free to add more in the comments):

Equality Florida is the largest LGBTQ+ equality organization in Florida, now the “Free State of Florida” ruled over by the leading Trump wannabe and meatball despot Ron DeSantis. They formed in 1997 when Jeb Bush took office and they’ve fought against antagonistic legislation ever since through lobbying, grassroots organizing, education, and coalition building.

National Center for Transgender Equality is an American organization based out of DC that set out to create a transgender advocacy presence in the US capital. The NCTE began as a small organization with a board, a few lawyers and one volunteer. They now stretch across the country, advocating for life-saving gender-affirming care.

Princess Janae Place is named after Janae Banks, a mainstay and icon of the New York ballroom and queer nightlife scene. PJP is a safe space and supportive organization that helps unhoused transgender people find steady independent living, substance use and mental health resources, legal assistance, job training and/or placement, and healthcare.

Trans Latin@ Coalition is an LA-based grassroots organization founded in 2009 by a group of transgender and gender-nonconforming and intersex immigrant (TGI) women as ” a response to address the specific needs of TGI Latin@ immigrants who live in the United States.”

Baltimore Safe Haven is Baltimore, Maryland’s only drop-in trans wellness center, supplying care and resources to the local trans and queer community. “We envision a world in which all transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (TLGBQ) people enjoy healthy, self-determined and -sufficient lives, liberated from the stigma, violence, and oppression they have suffered.” As a Maryland-born goon and a lover of Baltimore, I want to give this one a lil bump.

The Marsha P Johnson Institute is named for the not-famous-enough American hero Marsha P Johnson, a trans woman of color that was a major leader in the queer rights movement and is the likely thrower of the first brick at the Stonewall Riots. The MPJI focuses on advocating for the rights of Black transgender people through “organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting their collective power.”

TGI Justice Project is “a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people-inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers-creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom.” They offer leadership training, legal advice, and a re-entry program for trans people re-entering society after leaving prison.

Brave Space Alliance is “the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of the city.” While they offer support and services to the entire LGBTQ+ community, their focus is on BIPOC folx. They center mutual aid as an organizing strategy to make sure the most vulnerable of the LGBTQ+ are protected and supported.

For the Gworls is a “Black, trans-led collective that curates parties to fundraise money to help Black transgender people pay for their rent, gender-affirming surgeries, smaller co-pays for medicines/doctor’s visits, and travel assistance.” They offer a variety of assistance programs including Laced Together, a gender-affirming wig company that supplies quality wigs to Black trans people in need.

AKT supports young LGBTQ+ people in the UK who are either unhoused or living in a hostile environment. They help young queer and trans people of the UK find safe homes, employment, education, and training. “Why AKT? Because no young person should have to choose between a safe home and being who they are.”

TransgenderNI supports transgender people in Northern Ireland. They’re based out of the Belfast Trans Resource Center and help other queer rights organizations grow and thrive. “We support and advocate for the rights of trans people in Northern Ireland, through community building, leading campaigns for social and administrative change, working with government and the community sector to improve policy and inclusion, and by giving trans people in Northern Ireland a platform, resources and the skills needed to self-advocate and bring about change.”

Gender Identity Research & Education Society (or GIRES) is “a UK-wide organization whose purpose is to improve the lives of trans and gender diverse people of all ages, including those who are non-binary and non-gender.” GIRES works through volunteers and sells informational leaflets online.

Mermaids has been supporting trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people in the UK since 1995. Their important work includes reducing isolation and loneliness for transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children, young people, and their families and providing families and young people with the tools they need to negotiate education and health services.

Gendered Intelligence is a UK-based organization that seeks to increase understanding of gender diversity and improve the quality of life for transgender people everywhere through greater and more comprehensive information about gender identities. “We are a trans-led and trans-involving grassroots organization with a wealth of lived experience, community connections of many kinds, and a depth and breadth of trans community knowledge that is second to none. We believe everyone can be intelligent about gender!”

When you consider that these organizations seek to do for marginalized transgender people what their local governments, media, and communities at large refuse to do, this goes beyond charity. Queer people were dealt a terrible blow by the Ronald Raegan-led obliviousness to AIDS. That was an incalculable loss of life and of queer culture. It’s something missing that cannot be replaced: a history and a heritage that could’ve seen me as well as any number of other queer folx in a place of happiness and community. We are very close to doing something on a similar scale by oppressing, erasing, and murdering the trans and gender-diverse people of our world. This isn’t just charity, it’s right and it means helping to make the lives of the unjustly oppressed much better.

There are no two sides to this story, there is no devil’s-advocate argument worth making against this: trans liberation now!

Chris Revelle is a chatterbox with a lot of thoughts about media and can be heard shrieking about them on the podcast Why Did We Watch This?