In June 2020, author J.K. Rowling shared an article with her Twitter follows about menstruation, and the article cited "people who menstruate" in its copy. Rowling then sarcastically said the author should have just used the term "women." Followers immediately called Rowling out for trans-erasure, which she then refuted. "If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth," she wrote on Twitter.
Since then, several Harry Potter stars, such as Daniel Radcliffe, have been compelled to speak out against her comments. Radcliffe said "Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I,” Radcliffe said in a statement on the Trevor Project’s website. Emma Watson also wrote, "Trans people deserve to live their lives without their identity and humanity being questioned."
Rupert Grint, though the last to comment, made the most impactful statement. “I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers,” Grint wrote in a statement provided to the Times. "I am hugely grateful for everything that she’s done,” he said of Rowling. “I think that she’s extremely talented. I mean, clearly her works are genius. But I think also you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that. I think to stay silent would have spoke [volumes],” he went on. “Sometimes silence is even louder. I felt like I had to because I think it was important to.”