Elon Musk Asks Fellow Transphobe JK Rowling To Post Other Content

Harry Potter author and self-proclaimed TERF JK Rowling has been asked by CEO of X (formerly Twitter) and fellow transphobe Elon Musk to turn the transphobia down a notch. 

In response to a lengthy tweet from April that saw Rowling employ much of her usual anti-trans rhetoric, such as invalidating trans identities and touting gender essentialism, Musk decided to step in and personally ask the author if she could perhaps pivot to other topics. 

“While I heartily agree with your points regarding sex/gender,” he said, “may I suggest also posting interesting and positive content on other matters?”

Musk’s request is particularly ironic, given his previous attempts to lobby against gender-affirming care and current plans to sue Australia’s ESafety Commission after a request to take down an anti-trans post on his platform. 

Rowling is yet to respond to Musk’s request, and though most people would probably pause to reflect if told to scale back the transphobia by Elon Musk, it’s not difficult to imagine Rowling will only be emboldened to quadruple down on her anti-trans rhetoric due to this request. 

In fact, in the days since this reply, Rowling has continued to post transphobic content completely undeterred by Musk’s request. 

Twitter/X for trans people today

Musk’s disastrous takeover of Twitter has seen much controversy drawn to the multi-company CEO, with head-scratching decisions made consistently in the past two years since its purchase.

GLAAD’s 2023 Social Media Safety Index indicated that X/Twitter was by far the least friendly platform for LGBTQIA+ users out of the big five platforms, which all failed the SMSI Platform Scorecard. 

The platform’s hate speech policy seems to receive amendments constantly, with a recent prohibition on anti-trans hate speech seemingly overturned. 

After pressure from highly conservative influencers like Chaya Raichik (Libs of TikTok) and Tim Pool, Musk ensured that they would still be allowed to misgender people, and that the policy would only apply in jurisdictions with specific laws against trans hate speech. 

Musk appears to be trying to rehabilitate the image of the platform – since 2022, 50 of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have pulled their content for the platform, accounting for at least $750 million of revenue lost. 

Still, this is the bed that Musk has made – in making Twitter a safe haven for “free speech”, there is nothing he can do to prevent Rowling or anyone else from posting anti-trans content in a way that wouldn’t come across as hypocritical and disingenuous.