J.K. Rowling Fires Back At Critics: Hormones, Surgery For Young People A ‘New Kind Of Conversion Therapy’

After she was slammed for liking a tweet that argued that hormone prescriptions can be necessary and lifesaving, but they should be a last resort, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who has been the center of a brouhaha over transgender issues, fired back with a Twitter thread in which she fiercely argued against the trend of young people being “shunted towards hormones and surgery.”

The original tweet claimed that the prescriptions were likened to antidepressants that some people use rather than examine whether they can be healed psychologically, as it stated, “Hormone prescriptions are the new antidepressants. Yes they are sometimes necessary and lifesaving, but they should be a last resort —not the first option. Pure laziness for those who would rather medicate than put in the time and effort to heal people’s minds.

The author of the tweet added, “TRAs really can’t read. ‘Hormones/antidepressants are SOMETIMES NECESSARY but shouldn’t be overprescribed.’ somehow became ‘YOU DONT THINK ANYONE SHOULD EVER HAVE PILLS?! YOURE LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE.’ Good gravy.”

Rowland responded to the criticism of her for liking the original tweet:

I’ve ignored fake tweets attributed to me and RTed widely. I’ve ignored porn tweeted at children on a thread about their art. I’ve ignored death and rape threats. I’m not going to ignore this.

When you lie about what I believe about mental health medication and when you misrepresent the views of a trans woman for whom I feel nothing but admiration and solidarity, you cross a line.

I’ve written and spoken about my own mental health challenges, which include OCD, depression and anxiety. I did so recently in my essay ‘TERF Wars.’ I’ve taken anti-depressants in the past and they helped me.

Many health professionals are concerned that young people struggling with their mental health are being shunted towards hormones and surgery when this may not be in their best interests.

Many, myself included, believe we are watching a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people, who are being set on a lifelong path of medicalisation that may result in the loss of their fertility and/or full sexual function.

These concerns were explored by the recent BBC documentary about the Tavistock Clinic. Whistleblowers were talking about transitions driven by homophobia.

As I’ve said many times, transition may be the answer for some. For others, it won’t – witness the accounts of detransitioners. “The system sees surgery as the easy fix to girls who do not conform.”

Sophie is a trans woman and a true feminist ally. She was making the point that anti-depressants were over-prescribed to teenagers in the past, with serious consequences.

The long-term health risks of cross-sex hormones have been now been tracked over a lengthy period. These side-effects are often minimised or denied by trans activists.

Carl Henegan, professor of evidence-based medicine at Oxford University, has described the off-label use of puberty blockers on under-18s as an “unregulated live experiment on children.”

None of that may trouble you or disturb your belief in your own righteousness. But if so, I can’t pretend I care much about your bad opinion of me.