Breaking Down JK Rowling’s Transphobic Essay 

In regards to bathroom bills: Why are people so mad at trans people instead of, oh I don’t know, ACTUALLY GETTING MAD AT AND PUNISHING THE PEOPLE WHO COMMIT SEXUAL ASSAULT?!

Quick note: The percentage of detransitioners includes trans people who were forced to stop or delay transitiondue to external factors such as medical conditions and transphobia

Another thing about puberty blockers. Some children start hitting puberty way too early in their development and they are given the exact same puberty blockers in order to let them be children for a bit longer. If puberty blockers are so irreversibly dangerous (in TERFs minds) why aren't they talking about this side of things? Why are they only focusing on trans children? Hmm, what could it possibly be?

JK doesn’t understand trans people at all, I was raised by women, adore women, grew up thinking women were so strong and beautiful and it was empowering to be one. I am still a feminist after the realization that I was a man. I didn’t transition because I felt “oppressed,” I felt genuine dysphoria and idk what it’s going to take to convince people of this

“Men who get sexual kicks from being treated like women”. Darling, I’m asexual, I don’t get sexual kicks

I hope I am not intruding. I am a straight male. I was introduced through friends to a lady named Tasha. Tasha was a full op trans-sexual. She was one of my best friends eventually. I was surprised by her own trans-phobia. She talked about herself as a freak. I accepted her as Tasha. She committed suicide because of her feelings. I will always remember her. She was a friend and I enjoyed that friendship. It hurt me when it was gone.

As a cis man who was abused by a cis woman I feel so much solidarity with trans people against these toxic arguments in feminist discourse. The fear that those assigned male at birth who transition are a threat are rooted in the same arguments that excluded me from discussing abuse I suffered. It's essentialist. This was littered into 2nd wave feminist thought which i think is why some of the most prominent feminists from that era, like Germaine Greer, cling to TERF talking points. It's why it's only people with vaginas who are vulnerable and why only people with penises can be abusers. This isn't reality it's essentialism and is the reason why third wave feminism was such a gift. You were so right in how you talked about the importance of intersectionality. You are right that TERFs represent an ever shrinking population. I admit it often doesn't feel that way here in the UK. But videos as clear and thorough as this keep me hopeful.

I'm a hardcore feminist and I've never understood what the problem with trans women is. Like how can you belong to group that has been oppressed and then try to oppress others? I'm so sorry that you have to go through this, I wish we were already past this. *Hugs*

You explained why I still dress in dudes clothes and am terrified to act feminine. Especially living in KY, I feel like there is a real threat to my safety if I were to dress and act like a girl in public.

I'm a trans man and I couldn't be more insulted by JKR on every possible front. If I had known about puberty blockers or even that transgender IS A THING THAT EXISTS I would have begged for them. Puberty was nightmare. My mom had to make sure I kept my nails cut short because I kept clawing at my skin. And you were dead on about different gender experiences being equally valid. Most men will never what it's like to give birth. I do. I'm still a man. JKR saying that girls just "decide" to be trans so they don't have to deal with misogyny is just ridiculous. I have to deal with transphobia, homophobia (I'm also gay), and still misogyny. Transitioning didn't make misogyny go away. And it's irrelevant because it had nothing to do with why I began transitioning. I did it because I'm a man. End of story. You're beautiful, Jessie. And you have far more grace in the face of JKR's prejudice than I ever could.

This is one of the best videos on this subject I have seen. I’m a straight cis gender non-conforming woman. People (including friends and family) have called me ‘cross-dresser’, ‘tomboy’, or simply that they ‘did not see me as a woman’... I am uncomfortable not only with traditional social gender roles (clothing, activities, language, etc), but also with some biological aspects of being female, like the possibility of pregnancy or breastfeeding. I do believe this is a form of dysphoria (possibly even gender dysphoria) and yet I’ve never felt the need or desire to transition, which proves that being trans is beyond ‘wanting to escape the oppression of being female’. Being trans, I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) is an innate sense of self and gender.

I just want to throw a story out about the bathroom thing: At my college, they made all the women's bathrooms 'inclusive' bathrooms, they put this tiny plaque that stated only women and transwomen were allowed. In my opinion i like the attempt, but the inplication was dumb. My training route of medical care was primarily women, our bathroom was the one in that hall, the police academy shared our hall and it was mainly men. They didnt read the TINY plaque and just assumed the inclusive bathroom sign meant they could use it, several times ONE man would yell and kick out 5-6 women just so he could piss on our toilets alone and wreck the place. I was furious, i multiple times yelled at these guys they werent allowed, they didnt understand the meaning of inclusive to WOMEN, not them, a teacher of mine who was a 70+ yr old woman even understood the nuance and kicked them out as well. I would not have a problem with transwomen, they wouldnt act like that, literal territorial pissing on women's space, and when we reported these actions, the college's response was to just take away the signs... and that was just angering, because those guys basically jusy handed them an excuse to continue bigotry instead of being decent and reprimanding the perpetrators for breaking the social contract and giving proper training about what such words mean... As dumb as it is, thats basically how i see these narrow arguements from people like rowlings stuff. You're not helping, you're making it worse, you're enabling that guy to kick women out of their space so he can just piss all over our seats -.-

"'Harry, your eyesight really is awful,' said Hermione as she put on glasses." (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ch. 4 'The Seven Potters.') Hermione's called "she" while she had Harry's trouser tackle, and Harry's stubble and Harry's whatnot. Because Hermione's still herself, a woman, no matter what body she's currently in. JK's own books refute her, over and over. Thank you for spending your emotional resources to make this excellent response, and for offering such amazing resources throughout your channel.

'If you don't want to date trans people, that's fine, most trans people don't want to date you anyways' - ACTUALLY laughed at that, bravo. It's just one of those little moments where the humour shines through despite the awful situation.

After respectfully trying to talk some sense into JK Rowling myself for far too long here's how I see it: She sees herself as a victim, all the time. Regardless of her own actions she simply MUST come out the other side as the victim because otherwise she'd have to face being wrong, and her psyche doesn't seem to be able to ever admit that. It doesn't matter how wrong she is, she must be right in some way, she MUST be the victim. It's a very twisted thought process to conclude: My husband used to beat me, I'm afraid of men, transwomen used to be men, no transwomen ARE men, I'm afraid of men, therefore I hate transwomen, but if I SAY that I won't be the victim anymore, so transwomen MUST be doing something wrong because I'm the victim. Hell, what she said was even hurtful to women like me who lost their uterus to cancer. She straight up said that makes me not a woman too, something I assure you gets leveled at a lot of us post hysterectomy. My sister (who was born infertile and had a hysterectomy at 20) was once asked by her friend's mom not to attend her friend's babyshower because it was for "real women only" and she didn't want to have anyone bring "bad luck" to the baby. I shit you not. I just want to say to you and anyone else who took the moment to read this: You are valuable and I don't feel "threatened" by you in any way, shape, or form. You are important and the way you see yourself is valid. I don't feel like you're taking something away from me in some way. 🤗

Love to you, Jessie. Do not apologise for the audio...Stay safe.

As a cis women, when I was around 16 I became uncomfortable with my body. I'd already had body insecurities, but these became more gender focused. On some days I wanted to appear masculine, I enjoyed my strong jawline and didn't like my small frame. On some days I wanted to be slim and feminine, I loved my long hair, but hated my deeper voice. Most days I wanted to neither or both, and felt conflicted about what I was, because I enjoyed some the masculine/feminine parts, but disliked others. I thought I might be genderfluid, and experiemented with being called he/him and they/them. I experimented with how I dressed. My friend even bought me male boxers for my birthday, and on some days I tried flattening my chest with sports bras. I enjoyed being called they/them and he/him. I later realised that I was infact in a very bad mental state, and I was unsure of my identity in general and had general body insecurities, and liked being called the different pronouns because I liked that my friends took me seriously when I expressed these feelings to them. If I didnt have that opportunity to explore, then I think I wouldn't have identified the real cause of these feelings, and wouldn't have taken the steps to improve my mental health. It took me a bit longer to realise why these issues manifested as being unsure about my gender. Yes, I'd heard about trans people, so that gave me language to explore these feelings. But I think it mostly stemmed from the idea that women must be feminine, and if they're not then there's an issue. This gender binary made me think that because I liked some masculine things, then I must be some flavour of trans. The trans community pushes for this to be abolished. It allows girls to have short hair and boys to wear skirts. These are things transphobes hate, which I believe had a majority cause of my gender related issue. Ironically, the ideas they're pushing caused me to almost go to my doctor and discuss transition when I'm actually just cis. These are conclusions I had to come to on my own. No amount of shunning or legislation would have changed my mental state, it would just make it harder for me to overcome it.

Her take on trans-men is as frustrating as it is gross. A lot of trans-men didn't realize they were trans (myself included) growing up and just thought there were other issues with them (body dystopia, depression, self-loathing born solely out of institutional sexism, etc) because transgender men were missing from the conversation until very recently. Now that trans-men are starting to be talked about, more afab kids are realizing their internal struggles are trans related. Of course the numbers will rise. It's not some coercion from sinister doctors or friends. That whole section of the letter is as gross as the rest, but also negligent.

Thank you for this video. I'm a straight white nearly middle aged guy, I know nothing, but what stories people tell, and what comes up in the media. That is not a defence of some controversial view in about to espouse, I just wanted to say where I came from. I fully support trans women, men, gender fluid - I feel people should be free to be themselves, being born one way or another doesn't always represent who someone really is. I've grown into this belief over twenty years. Sometimes I feel the world has been growing and learning these things right along with me... And other times that world keeps falling behind. I first became aware of TERF ideology only a couple of years ago, sure I've known people that have said things as individuals, I've known people that simply couldn't wrap their heads around the idea of someone being different to the gender they were born as... But if never seen it as an organised set of beliefs. Anti-trans is something I associated with Conservative men, who also tended to be homophobic. What opened my eyes was a lesbian and feminist group were barred from holding a meeting at my local town hall, they were openly expressing views that transwomen weren't real women. That really boggled my brain, if it had been some form religious right womens group, I wouldn't have been so shocked. I don't agree with them, but the thought process is pretty simple and expected. In my head, LGBT+ are people standing together, Pride is saying we're all different, but we're all valid, we're all human, we all deserve dignity. Maybe I'm too optimistic about humanity sometimes... Its an intellectual disconnect for me. Maybe it shouldn't be though, feminism has a long history of a very narrowly defined view of who can be a feminist, there has been a distinct lack of representation of people of colour, and she that problem still exists today. "I'm fighting for my rights, but just my rights - you're not a good fit for us, so we're not fighting for you". And I realise obviously that's not the universal view, but from the outside it's pretty pervasive looking. To some degree, this feels an extension of that, but then more so, because its not just we won't fight for you, we will fight you, using the same tactics used against us when stood up. I'm outsider I know, I can't truly get any of it, I've never lived any part of it other than as a bystander and occasional cheerleader for my friends and loved ones. I'm sorry you had to make this video, I'm sorry you have to give so much of yourself and make yourself ill to do so. I'm glad you did though, and I hope plenty of people hear you, hear what you have to say, and stop to listen and try to understand. Thank you

I'm a cis man who proudly calls himself a feminist. Listening carefully to women like you is such an inspiration to learn more about this wholesome movement that is spreading massive change across society. Thank you so much for the clarity and consistency of your arguments. I could feel the pain in every word you said regardless of your inner strength to cope with these irrational attacks. Love always wins. My best regards from Buenos Aires, Argentina. You now have 1 more subscriber. Take good care!

41:55 - Exactly. That exact thing happened some years ago at the community college I attended at the time. The sign on the women's bathroom did not deter the cis-male assailant from assaulting the cis-woman in that space.

My god you have the patience of a saint.

JK was married to her abuser. My heart breaks that it happend to her but she has no right to use that to hurt trans women and trans men.

Just want to acknowledge that you did find the strength not only to come back and edit the video, but that some of those edits included material that is surely painful to you. I applaud your fortitude.

All my hugs Jessie! This must have been so hard to write and shoot.

Anybody else here feeling that JKR's actions are all a cynical, calculated propaganda ploy? Step 1): Post an item of deliberately inflamatory "cancel bait"... Step 2) Wait for inevitable backlash, which will naturally also affect the people closely associated with you (Radcliffe, Watson, Redmayne et al) ...Step 3) Cherrypick the most emotional, rudest replies you get 4) Post your "reaction" essay to the backlash (that you had prepared beforehand???), weaponising your own history of trauma as well as the cherrypicked abuse you've received, linking the two in your audience's mind, thus painting all your opponents as abusers as well as framing yourself as a brave truthteller, abandoned and betrayed even by your associated you've deliberately drawn into the crossfire (Radcliffe etc.). This is an established PR/propaganda tactic. I cannot see it any other way. There are four lights.

Jk Rowling’s statement that most trans afab people (who are minors) will end up detransitioning and are just trying to “escape their womanhood” kept me in the closet as non-binary for 3 years because I was scared I was wrong about myself. Thank you for making this video, I hope it helps some people understand why what she is saying is harmful.

As a trans man I’m absolutely disgusted that she thinks I wouldn’t and don’t care about women, I may not be one but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. I remember what I was treated like being read as a girl, I have many friends and family members that are women that I want to see treated better. Being a woman is hard yes, but it’s much harder when you aren’t one and are trying to be. Sorry for the rant but yeah, I care.

I can't believe how patient, kind and humane Jessie stays throughout this video. It's genuinely heartwarming and such a huge show of character and empathy. 100/10. Thank you so much for this video.

So according to JKR, menopause ended my time as a woman. I'll take that 28% pay bump, then!

@Jessie: I'm an old, white, hetero, cis man. It took me 3 hours to watch this video because I kept pausing to take notes and think about things. I experienced many emotions but the one that brings me to this comment was my gut reaction to your saying, in your exhaustion, that this video was a waste of your time. As hard as it was for you make, it was not a waste! It is difficult to overstate how important this was to me. Thank you for your courage, compassion, intelligence, and grace.

Thank you for this in depth break down. As a cis-man I feel extremely out of my depth on these issues but I had a gut feeling these comments by Rowling were hurtful. My cis-woman partner has these internal struggles with trans vs cis woman spaces so I'm trying my best to understand it. It's so confusing seeing all the support from cis-women for Rowling who all seem to think their spaces are under attack.

Love to all our trans siblings in the world, our existence is not a debate

I felt so bad during the part where you talk about your harassment. I mean, I'm not stupid, I guessed it. But I'm going to your videos inter alia, to feel safe and that's so sad and unfair that you are not. I know you're tired, and sick, and feel like you're wasting your time. But watching that video wasn't a waste of time for me. It helped me a lot. Especially because you found the words to express my thoughts and now I am better equipped when having to confront people about that topic. Most of all, as a non-binary person that no one takes seriously (I not only mean misgendering, but most importantly no one think it's possible for someone not trans to don't recognize oneself in women hood. For them, I'm just a masculine girl that want attention) I'm glad to be able to back up my sayings with your video that I'm sending to my friends, and that help me sensibilized them to things that they won't believe if it was only coming from me. Like the validity of non binary identity, or the danger of misgendering. Actually, after sending your video, one of my closest friend has ask for my pronouns and it's the first time that ever happened to me. So, thank you so much for doing this, and, really, this video wasn't a waste for me. It meant so much! Ps: as a French person, I have to say that I kind of winced a little at your prononciation of Simone de Beauvoir. But it was also kind of cute, I must say.

JKR using the fact that she suffered domestic abuse at the hands of a cisgender male partner as an 'excuse' for then launching into an attack on transgender people is just so irrational and wrong. Instead of confronting cisgender males for their misogynistic violence she has instead elected to shift the blame to another group entirely - i.e. the transgender community - (including many of us who are transgender females and girls and also suffer misogynistic violence and discrimination). She couldn't have done a ''better' job of derailing feminism if she tried. Even if she, and people like her, did manage to completely take away the rights of trans people it would still not change the fact of misogynistic violence and discrimination one iota. Hating on trans people actually makes it worse because it emboldens the misogynist alpha male establishment - who are also transphobic as well as misogynistic. What she is doing is the very antithesis of feminism.

Hey there! I'm a cis-man, and am a big fan of Rowling's work. I have (belatedly) come to know of this issue, and the argument surrounding it. I'm not at all well versed with the issue, and have been reading to educate myself about it. You have been very brave, very honest and very sensitive in the way you explained everything. Your video made me realise that not only is Rowling's essay disingenuous, it's actually harmful in a very real way. So thank you for putting up this video - as it allows people like me to gain some understanding of the issues involved and realise the damage that words can cause.

History has proven OVER AND OVER AND OVER again that ensuring EVERYONE's rights are respected, increasing those people whose rights are respected better protects EVERYONE's rights. This is a no brainer. Thank you for another informative, well researched and open video Jessie. I haven't had the pleasure of knowing any trans people personally, I live in a really small town in Northern Ontario and so am not even certain if there are any trans people in my community (there may be who simply just live their lives and aren't advertising their gender identity or personal stories for whatever reason they have) and so I really appreciate you helping me become better informed about these issues. For example thanks to your videos I know more appropriate language to use, to avoid harming anyone, for when I do someday interact knowingly with a trans person. I thought it was worth telling you this so you have first-hand confirmation that the information you share isn't falling on deaf ears (I had seen/read on twitter some of the JKR situation/statements and was confused about some of it - as a cis-woman who stopped menstruating for about a dozen years I had a bit of a knee jerk reaction to the "People who menstruate" term since I thought, though It isn't being said, that it was inherently implying that I was, during that time, somehow less of a woman... Your clarification of the use of similar terms as more accurate language helped me realize that what I was hearing in that label was about my own insecurities and not related to when/where/how it was being used - like by organizations helping menstruating people in need or speaking to them about issues specific to menstruation). I really appreciate your courage and effort to help better inform all of us. Stay safe and healthy :)

This makes me so angry & sad. My 13-year-old is a trans boy. And I rarely, get a chance to release the pressure valve on my concern, not just for him but for all trans people. We should CELEBRATE the opening of societal acceptance norms of trans people. J.K. Rowling is so on the wrong side of history on this. Of course her experiences are valid. And her suffering is real. But for her to use her enormous platform to subtley propagate ant-trans perspectives is not just hurtful in general but powerfully impactful to those who follow her. I support you, as a trans woman. And as a heartfelt deep thinker. Love, Nikolas

Not gonna lie I was tearing up towards the end. I know how tired I get of having to have these conversations with people to try and limit the damage done by people like JK Rowling with their massive reach and influence but I'm a cis man and not directly impacted by it. If it's this hard for me then I can't imagine what it's like having to live with it as a trans person but I do know it makes me want to fight harder. 💜

As a fellow transwoman and someone who admires Rowling's impact on literature, it truly saddens me that she has spouted such narrow minded and bigoted rhetoric. It's ironic that the woman who tried to denonce bigotry in her writing could be so easily accused of it herself.

I don't care about what anyone says, if a behaviour or set of thoughts is hurting and dehumanizing other people, then it's bad and I don't want to associate with it. To me, a cis woman, the fact that trans women are suffering is more important than any argument used against their right to exist as women. I don't want in any way cause suffering to any human being, man, woman or nonbinary, I want the world to become a place where everyone can be themselves to the fullest. I really can't understand how for some people their hurtful opinions are more meaningful and worthy to be heard than the suffering that others go through, right in front of their eyes. I'm sorry for all the hurt J.K Rowling is causing, I'm just a random person from the internet but I want to tell all trans women who might read this comment, you girls are women as much as I am, valid as anybody else and worthy of rights. Take care!

I love how JKR assumes trans guys these days don’t listen to music, or do art or else we wouldn’t transition Joann it’s so much easier for me to hear music and create now that I’m living as a man, no amount of music would have made me a woman

When people feel attacked by scientifically accurate terminology ("people who menstruate" as in... "people who menstruate"? Saying otherwise isn't only offensive to trans people but also feminism in general, tbh) and connect the mere notion of transgender individuals to bathroom assaults _they are the problem_ . That is how discrimination and bias works and it's baffling how people like JKR perform mental acrobatics to assert a stance that is based on ignorance. Dear JKR and other Karens, no, you're not doing it "for the children", and no, nobody wants to take away your period rights or the concept of biological sex. You're just scared of what you don't understand. And bonus points for still coming out as "the victim". So thank you for the very educational and surprisingly calm video, I wished nobody would have to discuss any of this and I'm hurting with you ❤️ Trans lives are valid, trans lives matter, and all of that should be obvious by now

As a cis straight woman, I want to thank you for your fair, concise, and educated explanations about trans people and transphobia. I want to learn. I want to understand the world from your point of view. And I want to do everything in my power to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. You’re beautiful! Don’t let the haters get you down.

Thank you for making this video. As a cis male, I want to be an ally to the trans community.

Trans people are just people who are trying to live their best lives like everyone else. And then some people have an issue with that.

Given that JKR used Hermoine to show it is "wrong" to try and uplift oppressed people (the house elves) it's hardly surprising she is not sympathetic to the systemic oppression of trans people. That woman really needs to get her priorities straight.

I'm a cis woman and I just wanted to say I stand with the LGBTQ community. I am really sorry that so many trans people get so much harassment.

I'm not for JK Rowling doing this all, your life matters Jessie #translivesmatter

At the risk of sounding insensitive, I don't really buy it when Rowling claims that she's not trying to garner sympathy by opening up about being a survivor of sexual assault in her essay. Ironically, the first thing I thought of was the time Kevin Spacey decided to come out of the closet following the allegations against him. Maybe it's a little unfair to liken Rowling, a victim, to a perpetrator of abuse, but they're both cases of celebs trying to make excuses for their shittiness.

Meanwhile, at the Rowlings residence, JK's personal assistant tries in vain to rip the phone away from her famous boss. Assitant, "Mrs, Rowlings, for the love of God, you are wrecking your own legacy!!" JK Rowlings, "I don't care! Everyone must hear my every wandering pointless, ugly thought!!"

We support you and all trans people Jessie. And it would seem Harry, Hermione and Newt stand with us as well 💗

Your video is amazing, thank you so much for it. I am a brazilian cis woman and still JK's statements deeply affected and hurt me. There were so many wrong things in her essay, and I even noticed some from a health professional perspective - which I am - so I looked for a response essay and found your video. It was very cathartic to watch and I am sure it was very hard for you to make it. Again, thank you very much for your work!

I was directed here by a tumblr post commenting on JKR's recent tweets - someone recommended your videos and I wanted to understand the issue better. Thank you for putting in so much work to make this video so educational and informative - and especially thank you for making me even more aware of the ways TERFs may use manipulative and misleading language that directly harms trans people, and helping me recognise it better. It'll certainly help me to better understand why exactly certain messages are so harmful. I'm absolutely going to check out your other videos on trans issues as soon as I'm able. Last but not least, I know the video is over a year old, but I hope you're well. And I hope that in time, more and more cis women realise that all of us women, trans or not, fight for the same thing - the right to be a woman the way we want to be. (On a side note, I noticed how in the essay JKR consistently portrays AMAB people as inherently predatory, and AFAB people as the victims. which of course is a whole other can of worms. anyways I'm just rambling. thank you again for this video ♡)

Why would any "fake trans" sex criminal go through the hassle of crossdressing and assaulting someone in a place where anyone can accidentally walk in and interfere? Unlit parks and alleys exist. Also the places that host public restrooms usually have security guards or CCTV nearby, making them horrible for doing any kind of violent crime. If bathrooms were any good crime locations they'd already be infested by cis criminals doing mugging, theft or homosexual sex crimes. This bathroom anxiety is so contrived anyone who seriously worries about it needs to touch grass asap.

“Essay” implies she did research lol

Thank you so much for going through this. I rage quit reading it 2/3 of the way through when she said trans men were born women =_= I just don't know how to argue/educate TERFs. It's so exhausting. Why are they so obsessed with other people's gender!!? Every time someone brings up the bathroom thing, I think about how so many bathrooms are set up here in Japan. There will usually be a few little rooms with a sink and toilet inside the room and they're ALL unisex

I genuinely feel bad that this was hard for you to make. Thank you for making this and sharing it. It even has me crying in a couple parts because I abhorred the male puberty I had to go through. It's affected so many things in my life from being able to have a "normal" childhood to making friends I keep for more than a few months to learning how to drive. And now that I'm finally ready to date, there's too many people who want nothing to do with me for not being born female. I like women, I've had to turn down a few men because I'm not interested, but I've yet to find even 1 woman who is interested in me.

As a cis man I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through, but I share your anger and disgust at JK Rowling and all the crap human beings put other human beings through. I’m not really sure how to word this... just take care and know that I stand beside you.

If JK was a book character people would be complaining because it's the cliché case of a character being talented, altruist, inteligent and almost perfect, and then just get a huge flaw slaped as an atempt to make it a 3d person... Well, turns out she is real, turns out those kind of people do exist.

Jessie that was perfect. I stand with you and all of my Transgender brothers and sisters.

The whole bathroom argument is particularly wild to me since it doesn't take into account that trans men exist. For arguments sake, if TERFs got their way and everyone had to use the bathroom of their birth gender assignment, what the fresh hell are these fools gonna do if a trans man who passes as cis has to go into their precious womyn facility???? For all their squawking about protecting women they sure don't seem to care that women are the primary target of their vitriol.

I was struggling to even get through the essay, all my respect for you for to be shooting and editing this video. Let your voice be heard, we‘ll be shouting along with you

Growing up female, socially, emotionally and physically does give me a different experience from a transgender woman. I think many women are cautious about cis female spaces changing and sadly trans women who don't pass easily or are early in transition make many women uncomfortable. With more information and representation hopefully the future will be more optimistic.

Please don’t apologise for the length of a video. This is so important for everyone to hear. Sending you love, thank you for this video

I'm sorry JK was abused, that was a horrible thing that happened to her; but she does not get to abuse others because of it. Enby's are valid, Trans Men are men, Trans Women are women.

A good thing that came out of all this was me finding your channel a few days back. I'm in a country where getting any sort of medical help for transitioning is very, very hard. Your little space here on youtube makes me feel happier. Thank you for making this important video and I'm sorry you had to read through that essay so many times. By the way, you always dress so well! Love this style on you!

I just came here to make sure the positive comments overwhelmingly outnumber the negative ones. Your pain was palpable and came through the screen. Jessie, even your INTRO was good. Rock on and stay strong

I legit stopped watching another video to go watch this because I value your thoughts on this so much. This cis woman stands with her trans sisters! We are stronger together!

You’re a very kind and respectful being, Jessie. Thank you for making this.

Commenting in the middle of the video here, which is probably a bad idea, but it needs to be said that there's no one simple, reasonable thing that all trans activists are asking for. Activism encompasses basically everyone with a voice, and on the internet, that will always include bad faith actors. Just think what a Russian troll might say masquerading as a trans woman. I get the sense JK Rowling has experienced that dark side of progressives politics more than the rest of us. This doesn't excuse her. But her media landscape, the ideology with which she has become surrounded, is important context. My takeaway from all this is that Twitter is toxic, Twitter is actively harmful to collective understanding, Twitter should be avoided.

I can feel my blood BOILING as soon as she starts discussing trans men. I remember my dad (actually my first stepdad but the only paternal figure I still speak to) - while competent as he was as a parent - refused to accept me being nonbinary, or the concept in general. He has a very binary view of the world - somewhat appropriate for someone who works in IT, despite the existence of hexidecimal proving that even in computing, binary is not the only format. Getting back to the point, my medical transition was probably delayed by about two years because my abusive stepfather-figure (between the years of 2013 when he met my mother and the summer of 2018 when he and my mother divorced months after finally marrying) made me feel like I was no longer welcome in my own mother's home, and when I lived with my dad I was essentially isolated in terms of both social life and any genuine empathy, as there were things we never saw eye to eye on. Mainly my gender. Because at first, I didn't want to medically transition. I remember the day when I went into his study, wringing my cuffs in uncertainty, asking how he would feel about me medically transitioning. He essentially asked me if I thought I was 'overthinking things' regarding my gender identity, 'because of all the problems of being a girl', and was told 'men have their problems too'. Yeah, no shit, Dad - but have you wondered which shit I'd RATHER put up with??? It took me far too long to get access to therapy and on the waiting list for just my first gender consultation appointment, and if my dad had actually listened and HELPED ME, maybe I would have gotten there sooner. (For those curious, I'm back to living with my mother in Wales, I'm just a bus ride away from my therapist when she starts taking patients again, and I'm MUCH... Well, I wouldn't say happier, with everything going on, but definitely more accepted and supported.)

I aspire to have this level of patience and grace for people who disagree with me

I know so little about trans issues and am trying to do more to understand. Thank you for giving of your time and emotional labor to provide people with this content. I really appreciate it and will be watching more of your videos. I hope you were able to take some time to rest and restore yourself.

Thank you. I am not a hugger, but I want you to feel very hugged when you read this, and I want you to know that I see you are a truly beautiful person. Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts in this way.

I don't think this was a waste of time at all. I think this is the best, most respectful, educational video I have seen a long time. It is amazing and touching that you can be so passionate and supportive while not reducing to malicious attacks and vitriol against those you disagree with. The fact that you can give Rowling credit where credit is due while also dismantling the harmful, untruthful and/or ignorant things she says with logic, reason, and compassion makes my heart swell. As someone who is personally ignorant of the much of the trans community's struggles, I am so glad I decided to watch this. You make an excellent teacher.

You write it well, all the time, every time. And I get you, there's other fights to be had, other things to spend energy on, but... Here I stand, I can do no other.

I wish I could like this video 100 times over. You’re so eloquent and I appreciate hearing your perspective on JK’s ‘essay’.

Audio shmawdio! Your words needed to be said and I appreciate the extra context you've researched and provided us in this matter

This woman keeps digging the hole deeper every time she opens her mouth.

Beautiful essay Jessie‼️🌟❤️🏳️‍🌈 I support your struggle, your courage. I admire your eloquence. Every word worked. Rowling is turning into the reincarnation of Mary Whitehouse (for you Brits, or Phyllis Schlafly for you Americans). A smiling “hip” conservatism that doesn’t dare say its name. A redressed exclusionary traditionalist binary mindset. She has joined the ideas of the Malfoys, as if the only “real” women are “pure blooded.” There are SO many logical fallacies in her text it would make a Vulcan cringe. 🖖🏼 Like the prerequisite 2nd-wave feminist namedropping of Simone De Beauvoir. Has she actually read “The Second Sex?” I have, it’s very dated (it was written in France in 1949 after all). Most galling that she should emit this essay right in the middle of Pride Month too...

I found you a few days back just because of Star Trek Content. Now I find myself binging your videos and learning so much. Please know that you reached me, that you taught me a lot. And I now have another recourse that I can point people to if words fail me or if I feel it’s not my place to talk about certain issues. Thank you for your time and energy. Love from Germany.

The effort you put into this is inspiring. To read such a lengthy, hurtful article and dispute it so thoroughly and eloquently in a professional style lecture is something I can't even imagine being able to do. I can't keep my thoughts on track for 5 minutes. I was nearly crying at the end, thank you for your voice Jessie.

This got reccommended to me, and I am *so* thankful for you going through this as calmly and rationally as you did. I too forced myself to read JK's "essay" so I was aware of what was going on. As a slowly coming out enby when this came up in my Twitter feed I found that I was barely paying attention to the manipulation when she brought ASD into it on top of her transphobia it just about destroyed me. Thank you for being so strong and going through this intense issue to share everything that everyone needs to know.

In my mother language sex means the physical act between two people while gender means that you were born as male or female. So i don't understand what it means in english

This video hits home in so many ways, I am proud of you for making it. I don't know if I could. I am also a trans woman, my youtube channel is very small but I get online harassment and transphobia in the few videos I have posted too and knowing from experience that a large portion of my comments are going to be arguing against my womanhood just for me being visible in my videos is just one of many reasons why I rarely post because I don't want to have to deal with more of those. Sending hugs to you and again thank you for making this in depth breakdown video of JK's bad arguments and misleading framing!

You're one of my favorite youtubers simply because you give me hope. I hate debates and arguments about human rights and politics because they're just so anxiety inducing for me, but the videos you and some other youtubers make about these subjects do not make me uncomfortable or uneasy in the slightest. And you give me hope that sometime, somewhere, someday, things will change and we'll be able to live peacefully.

A beautiful, heartfelt explanation. Thank you for expending the emotional energy to put out this message. And there's no need to apologize for length. I -- and, I think the rest of your audience -- understand that you're using the time you need to use. Your videos are always well edited and paced, giving the time to the subject that it calls for.

In case you're curious, Beauvoir is pronounced "Bov-war". Thank you so much for this dissection of her article. One thing that shocked me when I read it is how she contrasted "trans women" and "women". I'm sure you already know we exist, but as a cis woman who is also a survivor, I'm entirely on your side and not Rowling's. She makes it sound like we all agree with her, that the only cis women who disagree are the ones who were never abused/assaulted and never learned what it's like to be abused/assaulted and that was disgusting to read. It is so wrong and for her to say that is stabbing every survivor who disagrees with her in the back as collateral damage, just to back her arguments against trans women. Shame on her.

Thank you for this video, your pain is palpable and I could see how hard this was for you at times. I myself have to work to avoid feeling resentment at the lack of information, education and care that, had I received it, could've meant I lived as my authentic self from much younger age. Your ability to remain fair and impartial is admirable, especially considering the people you speak about often do not pay you the same courtesy. The work you're doing its really important and appreciated.

“I know this video has been insanely long” - oh the places she’ll go

Just wanted to leave you a thank you note for creating this video! I was in a social media discussion with someone about JKRs text and someone else piped in and shared your video. I watched it and you do a great job at explaining and providing sources. I can now leave that exhausting discussion with peace of mind. Thank you!

The most comprehensive, calm and informed response to all of this. So good. I hope you're doing okay! x

Wonderful video and I teared up and felt for you when you spoke about your experiences of puberty. Much love and support. I’ve spent the last 24 hours sharing messages of support and love and seeing the outpouring of wonderful messages. I see you and support you.

This was a wonderful video, Jessie. Sending so much love and solidarity 💛

I'm happy I discovered your work. When I first read "Terf Wars" I was like "well, that sounds reasonable enough,” but now I know just how wrong it is.

No worries on the audio! You sound ok and your message is way too important to worry about crap like that anyway.

I read her essay and there is a lot to unpack in it. I know how emotionally exhausting it can be to address controversies that strike close to home. Still watching and this is helping my interpretation and education as well. Thank you so much for sharing your insights!

You talk like a down to earth news reporter and it's very calming and I love the way you put the video together overall it was really nice to hear the information put together like that and don't apologize for the audio we understand, stay safe.

So I know I’m super late to this. This controversy was in my periphery while it was happening and I had trouble parsing everything at the time. Thank you so much for making this video and others!