JK Rowling's Award for Transphobia 

Thanks for watching! Here’s the BBC link if you feel you want to say anything to them: www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints Much love spuds! 💛

“Dinosaurs are cool, transphobia is not.” - Jamie Raines

I always appreciate your detailed and educational lectures. I would recommend the 1hr video in the description. Thanks for making the content you do, Jamie.

I genuinely don’t understand why Jk Rowling is being rewarded for speaking in ‘simple English’ Not using any sort of accurate facts or statistics, and not using reliable sources doesn’t make it simple English. It just makes it incorrect. If any teenager doing their English exam had written an essay like this, they would’ve been lucky to pass the class

As a Scottish person, I always laugh when people call the BBC "impartial".

If it wasn’t JK Rowling who wrote this “essay”, and just a normal person off the street, would they find it award-worthy then? I’ll never understand why anyone cares what sexuality or what gender or non-gender another person identifies as. IT DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR LIFE!

"Being trans doesn't hurt anyone, being transphobic does." Jamie 2020

I feel like Almost every Harry Potter fan pretends J. K. Rowling does not exist

If a transphobe has to be called every time a trans person appears on TV, the continuation of that logic should be that a trans person has to appear (and be given air time) every time trans related issues are discussed. I'd actually really like that. No discussing race without a member of the discussed race. No discussing religion without a person who takes part in that religion. No discussing adoption by gay people without either a gay adoptive parent or a person who's parents are the same sex. That would be the best idea in the history of TV.

The way that transphobs try to defend themselves and say we don’t exist or we are ruining everyone’s lives honestly gives me a headache.

Why couldn’t she just stick to hating on trump?? She probably could have then won the award.

I hate saying this because I know it will not be well received, but one of the things that's helped me be less frustrated about all of this is just accepting that the average cis person is genuinely incapable of understanding a transgender person and most of them don't and will never care enough to. That's why we live lives that are so uncontroversial, but our very existence causes them to go from zero to 100. That's why someone like myself who transitioned 15 years ago and has used the women's restroom for nearly most of her life knows factually that it's a nonsensical debate based on nothing but fear, but the people, some of whom I'd say aren't consciously transphobic, can only think of men crossdressing to rape women and girls. We listen to this and think it's crazy because we live with our lives and we've sat with this for a very long time, but for them, they've learned about trans people nearly as fast as they've started debating against their existence. People never think of trans women like myself in these debates, they think of their neighbor Joe just "deciding" that he's a woman on monday and using the women's room by tuesday. I've worked very very hard to help people understand transgender people and I'm still having the same conversations at 30, that I was at 20. I think more people are starting to understand, but it seems like even more of them are becoming antagonistic towards the very concept of my existence. It's depressing, for sure, but I think it's helpful to recognize that we can't control these things. JaK Rowling's hatred of trans women was obvious since people first accused her of hating trans women. it's cartoonish that she'd be awarded for her transphobic piece, but not shocking to me. Even less shocking is how this dude could genuinely believe that he isn't affirming what she's saying, as he continues to highlight one of the most transphobic passages. The vibe I got from that is what i'm saying about cis folks in general- he doesn't care enough to understand us and probably never will, but what he knows is that it's weird and he's scared. Most cis people will never actually care enough about trans people to get it.

My secondary school teacher would have thrown the essay in the trash cuz she didn’t cite shit

i like harry potter but i HATE jk rowling...and she..indirectly hates...me.....help me pls

Also, even ignoring the horrible content of her essay, it's still not well written, if I had submitted that to my uni professors, without citations, making vague, clearly biased statements and actually lying? I'd have gotten a big fat F

“Being trans doesn’t hurt anyone. Being transphobic does” Honestly my favorite line and the best way to sums up the reality about the “dangers” of the transgender community. Y’all are loved and validated ❤️

What makes their stance on transgender issues even sillier is that the BBC’s most famous character, The Doctor, is technically trans! Or at least genderfluid.

JK Rowling: "I am protecting the safety of women in women's only spaces." Harry and Ron: visiting the girls bathrooms together literally every year at Hogwarts for another stupid arbitrary reason.

“Being trans doesn’t hurt anyone being transphobic dose”. - Jammi dogger also I hate when people say lgb rights because me a lesbian knows that it is LGBTQ+ the reason we have pride is because of a black trans women so yes it is LGBTQ+ (im non binary now )

What I initially heard was that a legislation was being passed which allowed men to declare themselves women overnight and could get instantly admitted to women's shelters. And JK Rowling was like, "Hey, this is not ok!" So I was a bit shocked she got such a backlash. Jamie, thanks to your videos I realised how different the situation is. I feel like a lot of people who support Rowling had heard what I heard and they don't know what she actually said. Thank you for informing me.

If I get a bad grade on my school essays for not citing enough sources, why does JK Rowling get this prestigious award for an essay that cites NO sources??

BBC: "We're impartial." Also BBC: "Okay, we're interviewing a black person on the evening news. We need to go find a racist to talk to. Let's move, people!"

The suggestion that she's "brave" because of the abuse she's faced in the wake of her transphobic comments is a smack in the face for all of the trans people who receive abuse on social media simply for existing.

It still gets me that she threw a fit over the 'people who menstruate' bit. The article was about the unique difficulty for people who menstruate in undeveloped countries during Covid. Plenty of cis women don't menstruate. Rowling, a woman who most likely doesn't menstruate anymore because she's likely post-menopausal, isn't in the group of people who were being discussed.

As a trans-woman I'm gonna be full honest, sometimes I wish I wasn't trans or never came out cause there is so much discrimination, like even the BBC. It hurts to feel like I can't even be me.

The thing that really really makes me angry about this whole mess is that it isn’t ,technically speaking, even a good essay. As you have stated, she cites absolutely nothing, relies on personal bias and doesn’t give a balanced argument. It’s a bad piece of work, ignoring her terrible views. On a more personal level, I’m trans and the fact that this was nominated as a 3rd prize winning piece of writing is sickening.

I would argue the blog she wrote is dangerously close to inviting hate crimes. JK needs to deal with her trauma. Which is most likely due to cis hetro men. But she is willfully transferring that onto trans bodies. If she has an issue she has more then enough accses to psychiatric help.

Trans people aren't threatening, they need protection more than anyone.

My reaction as a lesbian cis woman "I f***ing give up" My friend Kai's reaction as a bisexual cis man "Jesus. The world has gone backwards" In short. Many people are pissed off and we stand with everyone in the Trans community. A message to any person who needs to hear this. You are valid. You are beautiful. You matter. You deserve love and good things. All my love and positive vibes. Stay strong beans xx

We can say "ok boomer", but this boomer is not okay.

being deathly rude to trans women/men is not “feminism” (this is one of the reason real feminists, who campaign for EQUAL rights for ALL are hated on so much) this is actually just being disrespectful and disgusting. Edit: hey replies! I love the positive ones, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t argue on my comment. thanks!

I love how she praised Stephen King for "agreeing with her" then deleting the tweet when he replied "trans women are women" 💖

Jamie is too kind: my monosyllabic response begins with an F and end with a U.

Trans people: exist Transphobes: "And I took that personally"

When I still believed I was straight (I am a lesbian) I wrote an essay about homophobia when I was in year 7 (11-12 years old) and I was so lucky that no one ridiculed me for having a strong opinion against homophobia yet people may still say that my opinion should not have mattered because I was supposedly a straight, cis girl. It doesn't matter who the hell you are, you can and you should speak out about transphobia and homophobia, because it's disgusting how people make ill-researched topics into bad things.

btw, it's not just if a trans person is talking about trans issues that a transphobe must be present. It's ANY media appearance. They could be talking abt the weather and a transphobe would need to be there to challenge their identity.

Writing doesn't exist in a vacuum. A text always, ALWAYS has to be considered within the context of the world it was written in, and when a text actively harms people in the real world by promoting hateful idealogy, to claim you support just the writing and not the message is both a) stupid and b) incredibly dangerous. I'm absolutely disgusted with the BBC. They're not impartial. Besides, claiming impartiality on matters of social justice is taking the side of the oppressors.

2020 doesn't stop being horrible not even on its last days....

TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS. Rights are not debatable!

When people call Britain “terf island” I see what they’re talking about

Trans man speaking, just found out that my mum supports JK Rowling and is also a Terf. I’ve been out for almost 2 years now and am literally crying right now. Update: I showed my mum the video on JK Rowling that you posted before and I think it helped. I guess it’s just really hard to watch her take in this misinformation and just walk away completely unharmed and un aware of the damage that it can do.

I'm nearing 40, nonbinary, and spent my life arguing that all people are people, and that we should all treat each other with dignity regardless of sex, or skin colour, or gender, or orientation, or birthplace. It's been extremely disheartening to see such a loud group reducing people to the genitals and chromosomes that they're born with. It's so regressive. These "feminists" are undoing so much of the hard work real feminists have done for decades. Whether they explicitly state it or not, it's very clear they believe that every person born with a penis should be presumed to be a sexual predator, and every person born with a vagina is a natural victim who must be protected from those alleged predators at all costs. They're misandrist and misogynist, and their opinion of humanity is abysmal. It's appalling. We are all so much more than our genitals, and our chromosomes only matter to the people we might choose to have children with, or our doctors. It must be exhausting to live in fear of an imaginary threat your entire existence.

Because of this nomination, now there is going to be even more transphobia apparent in media because if JK’s essay was nominated for a prestigious reward, then it must be right! Just what trans people needed. More bigotry and more rudeness.

When I clicked on this video, RU-vid decided that I obviously just wanted consume more Harry Potter media, and showed me an add for the third movie. The irony is strong in this one.

On top of everything else, "JK Rowling is certainly the greatest writer of English children's literature ... turns out she writes ... powerful prose too" is an utterly nonsensical thing to say?? What does he think Harry Potter was, a poetry collection? Almost everything JK has ever published is prose, and there is no way this editor doesn't know that. Am I missing something here? Or do I honestly have to make my peace with the fact that the man who chooses the nominees for a BBC literary award doesn't know the definition of "prose".

"Being trans doesn't hurt anyone. Being transphobic does." Great quote right there, I gotta use that one

Trans people’s lives, existence, and rights, are not an issue to be debated!

I read Rowling's essay, and it was damaging, and horrible, and the opposite of what trans people need. As she talked about the era she was raised in and her history of domestic abuse, I see how her fear has been channeled towards trans women. That is not an excuse for her speaking openly against trans rights, such as allowing trans women into women-only spaces, and we should be responding, as Jamie did, with informed and logical rebuttal towards her and others also fueled by uninformed fears; and love, support and validation towards the trans community. However, it makes it so much worse that her views, instead of being rebut, have been validated by an organisation as established and respected as the BBC, despite the clear lack of relevant evidence throughout her essay. Furthermore, Amol Rajan, who judged the prize, distanced himself from her opinions and wrote that it would be 'not worth your time' to challenge him on them, citing free speech without regard that freedom of speech is not freedom of reasonable consequence. It is childish of him to clear his hands of responsibility and make himself unanswerable. Yes; the culture of online hate makes it off-putting and difficult to wade through a myriad of responses, but when you publicly judge such a charged essay, an essay that has real-world implications for thousands of people, you cannot sit back and refuse to take responsibility for the statements you decided to share and promote. Rowling's essay was not neutral and pretending that promoting writing about people's reality can be neutral because it was well-written is bullshit.

I'm a bisexual cis woman from Argentina, and seeing this just makes me want to die. It's such a gut punch for those of us how fight for true equality for EVERY HUMAN BEING to see such s respected media source from such a "developed" and "advanced" country award such s damaging and hateful piece. How much do we have to do to be respected? How much do we have to fight to be safe? To be aknowleged? Will we ever win?

Schrödinger 's Trans Person: They both exist and don't exist, it depends on who you ask. (just to be clear I am pro trans)

What if they interviewed a trans author? Something simple: their life, their work, their future. Is that inherently political, debatable? Would it then be necessary to bring dissent as the interview 'wouldn't be balanced'? Harder to be heard over another's shouting.Their purpose is to other trans folk by removing their voices, and they know it. Only they obfuscate their intent with the guise of political neutrality.

as a cis woman i feel in no way threatened by trans women in women's spaces. trans women are real women.

JK Rowling created something great when she made Harry Poyter. Not the series in itself, but the fandom that came from that. They've dissected her own world into something complex and have created some beautiful, inclusive masterpieces.

OMG! My daughter's teacher just made their class pick 1 of 4 topics to "debate both sides" for zoos, fake news, social media and TRANS LIVES. When I wrote a long email about human lives not being up for debate and just got an email apologizing for "offending" us. How sick is it for anyone to promote debating someone else's life on political, publicized and educational levels

"When you've lived your whole life in privilege, equailty feels like oppression." -I forgot who I saw say this, but thanks to them

Yeah, JKR is so brave crushing a marginalized group under the bootheel of her massive influence. Such courage. The bit in her essay where she says (paraphrasing) that trans men are just girls that are afraid if misogyny...WHAT? I'm a trans man and (spoiler alert) misogyny is still something I deal with all of the time. BTW Jamie you are a major part of my decision to come out. Thank you so much. You have helped me in ways I can't begin to articulate. You are a beautiful human being. ❤

My mom is very transphibic. I told her it dident hurt her one bit. People are just themselves. Her respons was "yes it does. I have to look at them" Can i get a new mom?

That "I just like the writing" guy sounds like he'd say "the n-word is just a word" No one seems to understand wtf my comment is saying so I'll elaborate: The guy dismissing the transphobia in the essay by saying he just "likes the writing" is similar to people who say that the n-word is "just a word," which erases any and all negative historical connotation to the word. I'm noting the similarities in how he just ignores the bigger picture

NOT FIRST but still early so that makes me extra spuddy

People always find excuses to hate. I wish they'd just be honest: "I hate you because you're different"

As a secondary English teacher, this journalist fellow needs to brush up on what one ought to include in the tumultuous category of “good writing.” Who gives awards for being monosyllabic?! Plus, her spouts of hate should be educated, rather than celebrated. Also, love your take on things, Jamie. Keep ‘em coming!

JK Rowling: **Definition of transphobia** Us Harry Potter fans who are also trans allies/trans people: **DISGUSTED NOISES**

“Trans people’s lives, existence and rights are not something to be debated.” - Jamie Raines (Jammidodger)

TRANS PEOPLE'S LIVES, EXISTENCE AND RIGHTS ARE NOT THINGS TO BE DEBATED!!!!

Sent another complaint to them about this. I'm so terrified for my rights living in this country.

This is a great example of how neutrality takes the side of the oppressor

She clings on to the fact she made harry potter and how its not really big anymore so she keeps adding on to it and doing anything she can to get attention and become "relevant" again when she wont and its kind of funny how she thinks just because she was the author of the book series that people will listen to whatever she says when in reality shes making harry potter turn into a name kind of like twilight where people cringe when they think about it from their childhood and phases and feel bad for the actors who took part in the movies.

trans people: **exist** transphobes: can't believe you're oppressing us

I used to look up to her. When I was twelve I dedicated my first FanFiction to her 😢

Nobody: Jk Rowling: Everyone in Harry Potter is latino, black, ga- *very gay* , even Dumbledore himself was a gay

Impartiality at the expense of truthful and factual journalism isn't impartiality, it's bias. You cannot be impartial on someone's existence; by doing so, you're siding with the oppressor. By choosing this piece, which does not meet the award criteria, that editor has chosen to side with Rowling. He can hide behind his flimsy shield of "impartiality" all he wants; the reality of the situation remains. He is awarding and supporting lies, fear-mongering, and transphobia, and he should be ashamed. Everyone at the BBC should be ashamed.

Thank u Jammie I didnt know, it's good to keep up with this kind of news

As we all know, the bravest thing you can do is attack a powerless minority.

It's funny how she tries to attack the trans community but still claims that she stands with the LGBT community for her last-second thoughts on Dumbledore.

Saying that he only cares about the style is like saying u only watch porn for the plot. You can say it all you want, but the nasty bits are still there and it shouldn't be shown on the flippin BBC.

been binging his videos for a few days and I can safely say I’ve found a new comfort youtuber

I wanted to get a Harry Potter tattoo but because of the disgusting author I don’t want her work permanently on me

It's so wonderful that he cites things, I rarely see homophobes or transphobes do that

I don’t understand why the LGB alliance doesn’t see that they are doing the exact same thing cis hetero people did to them. Transphobia is the same as homophobia. Being discriminated against for your innate characteristics is never okay. I’m sorry I had to go off because every time I hear the LGB alliance I get so mad. We are fighting for your rights but you won’t fight for ours (not that I’m trans, just a bisexual who supports the right cause because love and acceptance of ALL people is the goal)

I really want to send this my friends but I think I'll wait until after Xmas. Absolutely perfect video.

Thank you for staying on the pulse of these issues. Happy Christmas to you and Shabba alike.

HOW IS DENYING BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS "POWERFUL" HOW IS DENYING BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS "POWERFUL" HOW IS edit: ik it's powerful in a "yay let's oppress ppl" kind of way, i'm just pointing out it's not very powerful in terms of spreading a great message for humanity's greater good, which is what they probably meant in that article.

JK Rowling is officially disowned as the author of the Harry Potter books

I quoted your last video on all this with Shaaba on my final university research essay 🙌🙌

Jammidodger, I just want to thank you again for your one hour video you and your partner put together regarding that "essay". I've used your video even all the way here in Australia to help people understand the issue with JK's statements

Having transphobic people debate for the sake of 'impartiality' is...well, it's cruel and pointless. Some people would call it torture. Transphobic people do not debate us in good faith- they ask questions in a way they know we will never answer to standards. You can't debate people who's only response is "how do you know?". As long as our existence is a political issue, which sadly it is, the actual stuff we need will never be realised. All because some people want to be happy that they don't have to sit next to some they don't like.

I already watched that one hour long video, I had a big mug of tea by my side because y'all - the tea is needed :)

J.K. Rowling: *is transphobic* Also J.K. Rowling: *writes about a character who spent most of his early life in an closet*

I am genuinely so done with this woman and everyone defending/agreeing with her, it just shows how little people actually care about us Edit: also I’m so deeply disappointed in the bbc, in their desperation to remain impartial they took the side of bigotry which will always happen as long as we are valuing the opinions of ignorant people over those actually effected by issues of discrimination

when you stay “impartial” when people are suffering, you aren’t impartial, you’re choosing the side of the oppressor.

Thank you for this. I recently had to defend my decision to remove JK Rowling's books from my bookshelf (I didn't throw them out, just decided I didn't want to have her books on display as it felt like some sort of endorsement). I mentioned this to some people in my circle and a couple said they didn't think that Rowling had done anything wrong, and defended her essay and perspective. I'm not trans but I am in the LGBTQ+ community and am a supporter of trans rights so I was dismayed that I had to explain how Rowling was harming the trans community. I enjoy these videos because they clearly articulate what I struggle to communicate to friends and family who are well-intentioned but somewhat ignorant of LGBTQ+ issues. So thank you as always for these informative videos! :)

Thanks so much for making a video on this. You have a knack for talking about painful, unjust things but not leaving me feeling hopeless at the end of it. I invariably come out of these videos more informed, but also with a feeling that it's not the end of the conversation. There's a community. There's more to be done. There are people who care. I guess I've gotten so used to hate and apathy from every direction in the last few years. Your content gives me hope and it makes me feel better. You educate and speak with kindness and empathy. That is so invaluable. And it's healing. Thank you! 💙💙💙

"Being Trans doesn't hurt anyone. Being transphobic does." This!!! Love and support to all Trans out there, you are amazing, I'm so proud of you!!!

There has been a vote, the Harry Potter books were actually written by Hatsune Miku, who also developed Minecraft and runs SpaceX ...

Thank you very much for making this video!

You did right to highlight this.

I thought the title indicated a sarcastic “well done JK”, not that she had actually earned an award for this garbage lmao

I'm not trans myself but seeing this is really upsetting. People like her don't deserve a platform to spew discrimination. Edit: I have realized that I am trans

I remember seeing a photo of Jamie pre and post T on tumblr around 2015ish and it helped me feel normal as I struggled with transphobia at school. I've struggled through a lot of transphobia recently and seeing these well spoken, calm and informative videos help me feel less alone in a world that seems to be increasingly frenzied. Thank you💗

Thanks for covering this. I live under a rock and had no idea about it. Definitely going to listen to your response to Rowling's essay (later, when I'm in a better headspace).