Photo: John Lamparski/Getty, Mike Marsland/WireImage
Evanna Lynch, who starred as Luna Lovegood in theHarry Potterfilms, is sharing her perspective on the backlash surroundingJ.K. Rowling’s controversial views on gender.
Rowling, 57, came under fire in June 2020 when sheappeared to support anti-transgender sentimentsin a series of tweets. Though she denied that her views on feminism are transphobic, shedoubled down on her controversial standpointsin a lengthy essay shared on her website days later.
At the time, Lynch spoke outand said in since-deleted tweetsthat “as a friend and admirer of [Rowling] I can’t forget what a generous and loving person she is…she is still fighting for vulnerable people. I disagree with her opinion that cis-women are the most vulnerable minority in this situation and I think she’s on the wrong side of this debate. But that doesn’t mean she has completely lost her humanity.”
TheDancing with the Starsalum, 31, said in an interview withThe Telegraphlast week that she “was very naive when I was dragged into that conversation.”
“I didn’t even know there were two sides. I had a view of, like, ‘good and bad.’ I do have compassion for both sides of the argument. I know what it was like to be a teenager who hated my body so much I wanted to crawl out of my skin, so I have great compassion for trans people, and I don’t want to add to their pain,” said Lynch.
She added, “I just felt that her character has always been to advocate for the most vulnerable members of society. The problem is that there’s a disagreement over who’s the most vulnerable. I do wish people would just give her more grace and listen to her.”
Evanna Lynch and J.K. Rowling in 2013.David M. Benett/Getty
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Prior to landing the part of Luna in 2007’sHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixafter an open casting call, Lynch became pen pals with Rowling after writing a letter to the author explaining how the Potter books helped her whileshe struggled with an eating disorder as a child.
“I started writing to J.K. Rowling and she wrote back and we became pen friends after that. I was in and out of hospital and I would be getting these letters,” she said onDancing with the Starsback in 2018.
Reflecting on the dark period of her life, Lynch added that Rowling’s “books and her kindness really made me want to live again.” Lynch added, clarifying that Rowling had no part in her casting, “Being inHarry Potterchanged my life because it proved to me that I could do something, that I had something to offer the world.”
Potteractors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grinteach spoke out against Rowling’s much-criticized remarksregarding the transgender community. Radcliffe, 33,stated definitivelyin a previousessayforThe Trevor Projectthat “transgender women are women.”
“According to The Trevor Project, 78 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity,” he added. “It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”
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Responding to backlashback in June 2020, Rowling wrote that she refuses to “bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.”
In the recently released podcast seriesThe Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, the author spoke out, saying, “I never set out to upset anyone. However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal and what has interested me over the last 10 years and certainly the last few years, the last two, three years, particularly on social media … ‘You’ve ruined your legacy. Oh, you could have been beloved forever, but you chose to say this.’ And I think, ‘You could not have misunderstood me more profoundly.’ "
About the situation surrounding Rowling, Lynch told PEOPLE back in May 2021 that she was “still figuring that out, to be honest” and “it makes me sad what’s happened.” She added of feeling conflicted at the time, “It’s an upsetting topic.”
source: people.com
