J.K. Rowling, the British author of Harry Potter who has become, in a weird twist of culture war fate, a primary target of the LGBT movement, has put her money where her mouth is. After leveraging her fame for several years now in defence of female dissidents of the reigning transgender ideology—and in defence of female-only spaces—she is now using her fortune to open a women-only sexual violence support service in Edinburgh, Scotland called Beira’s Place. “As a survivor of sexual assault myself, I know how important it is that survivors have the option of women-centred and women-delivered care at such a vulnerable time,” she stated. “Beira’s Place will offer an increase in capacity for services in the area and will, I hope, enable more women to process and recover from their trauma.”
The founders of the center noted that there has been a “demand from female survivors for a woman-only service.” That demand has been driven by a surge of biological men identifying as women showing up in what were once female-only spaces, often traumatizing the sexual assault survivors who had sought refuge in these centres after experiencing horrific things at the hands of men. In Scotland in particular, trans activists took over Rape Crisis Scotland with chief executive Mridul Wadhwa—a man identifying as a woman and the CEO of the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre—stating that women needed to essentially get over it: “Sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well…But these spaces are also for you. But if you bring unacceptable beliefs that are discriminatory in nature, we will begin to work with you on your journey of recovery from trauma. But please also expect to be challenged on your prejudices.”
And so J.K. Rowling has used her wealth to found a center that helps women in their pain and suffering, safe with other women. Considering the last few years, it should not be surprising that even establishing a rape crisis centre for rape victims earns her condemnation, but here we are. The Independent ran an editorial by a trans activist asking whether this act of philanthropy could be the end of her. It is titled: “Could JK Rowling’s latest venture be the final nail in the coffin for her reputation?” While this center may seem to be a good thing, Ryan Coogan wrote, the truth is that “it seems instead to be a shallow attempt to shield herself from further criticism by doing something which is nominally good, but in reality actually further segregates and disenfranchises vulnerable people.”
