Recently, longtime soccer referee Lucy Clark made history as she became the first transgender manager of a team in the top five divisions of English women’s soccer. But famed author J.K. Rowling did not have kind things to say about the accomplishment.
Following the news, the author of the Harry Potter book series took to social media to blast Lucy Clark, suggesting that she was simply a “straight, white, middle-aged bloke” just like every other football manager when she was young.
“When I was young all the football managers were straight, white, middle-aged blokes, so it’s fantastic to see how much things have changed,” Rowling said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
When I was young all the football managers were straight, white, middle-aged blokes, so it's fantastic to see how much things have changed. https://t.co/jx9zp0hRyU
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 11, 2024
When she saw a headline claiming that she was “comparing” Clark to a man, Rowling doubled down on her assessment.
I didn’t compare him to one. He IS one. https://t.co/LUqXuSjktV
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 12, 2024
“I didn’t compare him to one. He IS one,” Rowling said in a follow-up post, intentionally misgendering Clark.
This is certainly not the first time that Rowling has been openly hateful and critical toward those in the transgender community, and based on her willingness to make comments like this on social media, it’s unlikely that this will be the last time she says something like this.
