Causes JK Rowling has taken a stand on
Though her claim to fame is writing Harry Potter, author J K Rowling is a person of strong opinions and choices and her acts and actions are quite pathbreaking.
Recently she expressed her views on transgenders and that caused a huge controversy, with many fans getting hurt by her views, and several people openly condemning her for her opinion. Many fans tried to disassociate her from her books and their enjoyment of them and some Harry Potter fansites even removed mentions of her!
While it's easy to dislike her as the atmosphere dictates, it would be better to look at her as a nuanced person who has always been vocal about her opinions and used her writing to express it. That trait, along with her generous donations is what has made fans like her personally and not just for the books she wrote.
Here are some other actions Rowling has taken that have gained her more fans or ill will:
She donated £1m for Corona crisis
Every year on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts(an incident in her books) she apologies for one of the characters she killed in her books. However this year she tweeted, "Today's the 22nd anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, but I am going to be honest and say that it feels inappropriate to talk about fictional deaths. Too many people are losing loved ones in the real world." and donated a million pounds to charity. Half to Crisis which helps homeless people, and half to Refuge to help victims of domestic abuse.
Photo: canva
Her anti-Trump tweets
Rowling has never been shy about her low opinion of Trump. She makes it clear on Twitter where she frequently replies cuttingly to his tweets, correcting his spellings and mocking what he said. Her replies are usually witty and caustic.
Photo: jk_rowling/Twitter
She made Hermionie black
Years after the Harry Potter book series was over, she decided to return to the world and the characters, this time through a play. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" runs on both Broadway and West End and led to one controversy outside the plot.
In the play casting she agreed Noma Dumezweni, a black woman, was a brilliant choice for Hermione. She pointed out in an interview with The Guardian that she never mentioned Hermione's skin colour but fans found a line that said Hermione 'turned white', insisting it meant she was white.
"I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione 'turned white' -- that is, lost color from her face after a shock -- that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with," Rowling said. "But I decided not to get too agitated about it and simply state quite firmly that Hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm."
Photo: peaceofseoul/Twitter
She donated books to a school in Kashmir
In 2018, a teacher in a school in Kashmir tweeted out a picture of an essay a student, Kusum, wrote about Rowling, to the author asking her to visit the school. Rowling replied to the tweet and then sent a gift box to the school that had books and other gifts for Kusum and for her class along with a handwritten note for Kusum. The teacher posted pictures of an excited class.
Photo: twitter.com/imsabbah
She started Lumos and works in several charities
Lumos, is an international non-governmental charity (NGO), earlier known as Children’s High Level Group. She founded it to put an end to the institutionalisation of children worldwide. She has also supported many other charities extensively over the years like Comic Relief(For whom she has written books) like One Parent Families.
Photo: wearelumos.org/stories
J.K. Rowling fell off the Forbes billionaire list due to her charity
An internet meme claims Rowling was the first person to fall off the Forbes billionaire list due to her excessive charity donations. This is only partly true as Britain’s high tax rates also contributed to it.
Rowling was declared one of the youngest people on a Forbes list of the world’s super-wealthy, with a net worth of $1 billion in 2004. By 2012 she fell off the billionaires list for donating an estimated $160 million to charities.
Aside from the above mentioned she has donated extensively to Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain(Her mother died of Multiple Sclerosis so it's a deeply personal cause) and has donated to Maggie’s Centre for Cancer Care, Dyslexia Action, English PEN and Shannon Trust.
Photo: Rowling recieving the Ripple of Hope Award from Robert F Kennedy Human Rights. jkrowling.com
Her mental health advocacy
Rowling has never shied away from admitting her own mental health issues. She was clinically depressed for a while and she even had suicidal thoughts. She was always very open about what she went through and admitted how her feelings at that time helped her create the dementors in her books. Many fans have resonated with the metaphor and her words on the matter and reached out to her for help on Twitter. Her responses have always been heartwarming and inspiring.
Photo: jk_rowling/Twitter
She made Dumbledore gay
While many are offended by her feelings on transgenders, she did delight many of the gay community by announcing that the wise headmaster of Hogwarts was gay. When someone commented they couldn't see him that way, she succinctly replied, "Maybe because gay people just look like... people?"
Though since the release of the latest movie, ' Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' where Dumbledore is shown young, with his love interest alive, fans have expressed that they wish his sexuality was better highlighted and were disappointed in her decision not to emphasise it.
She once tweeted out the above image to a fan.
Photo: jk_rowling/Twitter