'Harry Potter' creator JK Rowling, Joanne Harris engage in war of words; 'Harris has...'

A war of words erupted between Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling and Chocolat author Joanne Harris over gender identity issues. Rowling voiced worry for Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses, after he was assaulted and received a death threat on Twitter, which sparked the argument.

The leader of the UK's Society of Authors, Harris, had offered encouragement to Rowling "and to everyone in a comparable position", stating that she fought for all the rights of all authors even if she didn't agree with their opinions. 

War of Words erupt between JK Rowling & Joanne Harris

In a conversation with The Times, J.K. Rowling said, "Harris has consistently failed to criticise tactics designed to silence and intimidate women who disagree with her personal position on gender identity ideology and has said publicly, ‘Cancel isn’t a dirty word. We habitually cancel things we no longer want'."

In response to it, Harris took to her Twitter handle and said, "I’ve always said loud and clear that I condemn threats of any kind, to anyone. That goes for people whose views I disagree with as well as those whose views I share. Free speech is for everyone, and when one person loses it, we’re all at risk."

It is pertinent to note that Joanne Harris has a trans son, and Rowling has spoken out against the word "people who menstruate" instead of "women." This didn't go well will netizens who interpreted that position as being transphobic. "Yes, I support trans rights. I also have a son who came out as trans a few months ago. But my personal feelings about the gender-critical movement don’t affect my belief in free speech, or what I do for the @Soc_of_Authors," Harris tweeted.

JK Rowling receives a death threat

Novelist Salman Rushdie was recently stabbed by a man while he was heading towards the stage of Chautauqua Institution to give a speech. Following the tragic incident, JK Rowling took to her social media space and expressed her take over the incident, calling it 'horrifying news'. Post this, the Harry Potter creator received a death threat from one of the Twitter users of which she even shared a screenshot.

(Image: @jkrowling_official/@joannechocolat/Instagram)