"Dumbledore is Gay" sez Rowling

probably not

very apropos, though

There's no reason to think it isn't though, either

Even if it was a coincidence as she claims ("Robert" and "Galbraith" are tributes to significant figureszzzz etc) I simply can't believe that neither Rowling herself not all the other people involved in publishing this book didn't do a Google search and ask the question, are you sure about this?

And whether it was deliberate from the get-go or a happy coincidence or whatever, in the context of her sustained and active transphobic campaigning through social media and open letters, it is damning

can't wait for a new revision of the deathly hollows where hagrid stops hermione and tonks from drinking harry's polyjuice potion and points out how a biological woman can never be a man.

There's no reason to think it isn't though, either

There are multiple reasons, like this is one:

We called it one of the ‘great forgotten stories of neuroscience’ because everyone had forgotten it. @jk_rowling did not choose her pseudonym out of homophobia or insensitivity. She could not have known about this guy - who everyone called Robert Heath anyway, or just Bob. 2/2

— Robert Colvile (@rcolvile) June 10, 2020

http://web.archive.org/web/20120423214220/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Galbraith_Heath
http://web.archive.org/web/20150320215902/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Galbraith_Heath

Presumably everyone has now learned that JK Rowling's new book is not actually about a murderous cis man who dresses as a woman to kill his victims?

And sure, burning the witch and all that is great fun, but the Robert Galbraith Heath theory is about as idiotic as insisting that numerology proves "Joe Biden" is "Satan, Honest".

What makes you say that? I just read a positive and sympathetic review in the washington post that says: "In her new book, Rowling has created a creepy serial killer who dresses in women’s clothes to more easily reel in his female victims."

everything is - as far as I can tell, everyone is very subtle about this on ilx - sympathetic towards jk rowling's "legitimate concerns" about trans women, so that might be an influence on that post.

the Robert Galbraith Heath theory is about as idiotic as insisting that numerology proves "Joe Biden" is "Satan, Honest".

I agree with this completely

Yeah the Galbraith thing is unconvincing. I suppose everything might mean the book is not *exclusively* about the serial killer (it's apparently a compact 900 pages), but again the review I quoted was positive and even defended her decision to include that plot point, so I have no reason to doubt its veracity

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/09/jk-rowling-new-book-troubled-blood-not-transphobic/

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/sep/15/rowling-troubled-blood-thriller-robert-galbraith-review

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/09/jk-rowling-new-book-troubled-blood-not-transphobic/

― everything, Thursday, September 17, 2020 3:18 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

christ, have a look at the source - both the publication and the writer.

To be fair, the only review that all this came from the Telegraph. I also provided a similar article from the Guardian.

the guardian article is paywalled for me but at least it's not a bathroom warrior who uses the term "globalist" in her writings and works for the national review

As I mentioned, the idea that it's a transphobic book came from a review in the Telegraph. In other words zero credibility. Surprising no-one mentioned that upthread tbh.

Here's the review I quoted: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/jk-rowlings-troubled-blood-is-her-most-ambitious-robert-galbraith-novel-yet--and-likely-the-most-divisive/2020/09/17/abeded18-f8f3-11ea-a275-1a2c2d36e1f1_story.html

Not going to discuss the National Review (an absolutely biased right-wing trash heap if you're not aware); IMO the Guardian one concurs with what I read in the Post. Sounds like the Telegraph overstated the centrality of this plot/character, but the quoted passages in the Guardian are legitimately objectionable

plenty of racist content in the book in the excerpts i saw too!

ofc jkr is way past the point of benefit of the doubt on this one, ty Jim for pointing out everything’s bias in that regard

Drop dead. You know absolutely fuck all about me or my opinions on this.

you seem cool

In other words zero credibility

you just linked to a national review article written by someone who openly hates trans people

if there's one thing I fucking hate it's disingenuousness.

The Telegraph is trash. Pink News is trash. That's where the story came from. None of us here have read the book. I remember JKR getting burned at the stake over Scottish Independence. I remember getting burned at the stake for Brexit. What's new?

I don't know anything about everything

lol I can’t credit linking to the National fucking Review to support your point in the same argument where you refer to “witchburning”, jfc

Pink News is trash because it inconveniently covers trans people as though they are with respect and rights, yes

it really doesn't matter if the original article overstates it - jk rowling's public persona has been defined by her views about transgender people for the better part of a year, far far beyond her terrible post-HP writing no one cares about. there was never a possibility that a book she wrote that includes a crossdressing man doing literally anything wasn't going to attract attention and suspicion. if you don't think this response is exactly what she wanted you're a rube.

putting the rube in tru believer

guardian article is typical "I've read the book and I'm a professional writer, therefore I'm right" - when she actually gets down to it her argument seems to be "these tropes are familiar, therefore they can't be transphobic" which is less missing the point than sticking your head in the sand to avoid it.

it's annoying that any coverage of this book exists is in reaction to the Telegraph review, but Pinknews' reviewer aims to debunk Nick Cohen's debunking: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/09/16/jk-rowling-troubled-blood-serial-killer-cross-dresser-womens-underwear-plot-character/

Wait the Guardian review was by Nick Cohen? 😬

there were two guardian articles

Troubled Blood indeed

Hmmmmmm, I'm not ~entirely~ sure I'd count The Guardian as a trusted source on what's transphobic and what's not.

but the guardian presented articles the topic from both sides, a TERF and a sex pest.

sad lol

https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltf04078f3cf7a9c30/blt37083bb618e0e529/5e3b0275db561b2b59d8ad85/Nick_C.png

as the Terf broadsheet of record i think we should trust the Graun on this

Go ahead and endorse an obvious troll from the Telegraph then if it makes you feel clever. They're laughing their heads off over there, I guarantee it.

well if the national review says it isn't transphobic

Aw man, the Telegraph is now declaring the book NOT transphobic after all! What a surprise. Surely this is also JKR's fault.

i'm not sure what level of smug satisfaction you're on but it's impossible to recognize as a human response

the guardian review reads as "it's not transphobic, it just has several tropes that are traditionally used to stoke hatred towards transgender people".
which is kinda how one could summarize jkr position on transgender people. she's not transphobic. she just likes promoting many tropes that are traditionally used to stoke hatred towards transgender people.

this however..

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/jk-rowling-trans_ca_5f5fb236c5b68d1b09c60ee5

"There’s a trans character named Pippa in Rowling’s book The Silkworm, who’s described as “unstable and aggressive,” according to Katelyn Burns, a trans author writing for Them. Burns quotes one section of the book, when Pippa tries to escape the hero detective: ”‘If you go for that door one more time I’m calling the police and I’ll testify and be glad to watch you go down for attempted murder. And it won’t be fun for you Pippa,’ he added. ‘Not pre-op.’”

so, jkr, let me see if i got this right: a suggested rape won't be fun, but hey, it just might be. post op.
this is not a dog whistle anymore. it's a fucking vuvuzela.

I took a look at Rowling's twitter feed today, I didn't realize how much she's doubling down on this cause. Jesus Christ lady. I guess she truly believes this otherwise I can't imagine her risking the threat to her career like this.

thanks, scanner darkly, I'd forgotten what a vuvuzela was.

it's fucked up all these newspapers are saying that jkr's book is transphobic when her social media presence is screaming "i'm transphobic" all on its own

how dare they misrepresent her work by suggesting it contains her actual views

considering it's a 900 page volume the ratio of transphobia per page is not that high surely

i'm not sure what level of smug satisfaction you're on but it's impossible to recognize as a human response

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, September 17, 2020 6:35 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I humbly apologize for mocking Telegraph stans.

love too burn witches at the stake (criticise billionaires for their consistently shitty politics and bigotry)