For context, last year the actor (who played Bartemius Crouch Jr. in the fourth Harry Potter movie) accepted an allyship award at the British LGBT Awards. He called out the now-leader of the British Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, for saying that she wanted to bar trans women from some spaces. In his acceptance speech, he said, “We shouldn’t live in a world where that is worth remarking on. However until we wake up and Kemi Badenoch doesn’t exist anymore — I don’t wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up — whilst we do live in this world I am honored to receive this.”
After his words triggered various comments from Kemi and other politicians, J.K. went on X and shared a post criticizing David, adding, “But the utterances of the Gender Taliban receive special dispensation, for they are a holy caste.” Subsequently, when Kemi was voted leader of the Conservative Party, J.K. wrote on X, “My thoughts and prayers are with David Tennant at this very difficult time.”
Fast-forward to today, and David took part in a British interview series called The Assembly, where celebs are asked questions by interviewers with autism, learning disabilities, or other forms of neurodivergence. In it, he was asked by a trans person as to what prompted him to become an ally for trans rights.
In response, he said, “When I was a teenager, there was this thing that Mrs. Thatcher’s government introduced called Section 28, which was about stopping the promotion of homosexuality in school, which was a weird umbrella term, which was basically saying it was illegal to talk about being gay in school, or to suggest that that might be a normal way of behaving.”
“We look back on that now as a medieval, absurd thing to try and say, and I think the way the trans community is being demonised and othered is exactly the same. It’s become this kind of political football,” he added.
In a follow-up, he was asked how he felt about J.K. calling him out directly on social media. He replied, “J.K. Rowling is a wonderful author who’s created brilliant stories, and I wish her no ill will, but I hope that we can all, as a society, just let people be. Just get out of people’s way.”
His words come as the UK Supreme Court essentially ruled that trans women legally aren’t women. J.K. donated tens of thousands of dollars to the cause and later celebrated the win by posting an image on X of her drinking and smoking a cigar, captioned, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
You can read more about other actors who have called out J.K. here.
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