JK Rowling took a thinly veiled swipe at Emma Watson and other celebrities who backed transgender children’s charity Mermaids after a trustee quit over revelations he spoke at an ‘academic’ conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services to paedophiles.
The author’s comments also came after the charity came under fire amid accusations of giving chest-flattening devices to young girls against their parents’ wishes.
JK Rowling said the transgender children’s charity had achieved unprecedented influence in the UK with the help of ‘certain corporations and celebrities’ who boosted them despite red flags.
Celebrities who have publicly backed Mermaids include the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry Potter star Emma Watson and Jameela Jamil.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday evening, JK Rowling wrote: ‘We’ve now learned that Mermaids appointed a paedophilia apologist as Trustee and that their online moderator encouraged kids to move onto a platform notorious for sexual exploitation. This is a charity that’s achieved unprecedented influence in the UK.
‘They couldn’t have achieved it without the money and public support of certain corporations and celebrities, who eagerly boosted them even though the red flags have been there for years. Mermaids’ fingers were all over the Tavistock Gender Identity Clinic debacle.
‘They’ve been allowed into classrooms, trained police and had unprecedented influence over health policy, even though by their own admission they aren’t a medical charity. We’ve also found out they’re sending devices to flatten breasts to underage girls w/o parental consent. 4/5
‘So I don’t doubt that there are some panicky phone calls being placed to PR people by certain corporations and celebrities right now, but as they remain completely insulated from the severe harm they’ve enabled, my sympathy can be measured in gnats’ thimbles. 5/X’