LONDON (AP) — Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says she is returning an award from a human rights group linked to the Kennedy family after the president of the organization criticized her comments about transgender issues.
Rowling's decision comes after Kerry Kennedy, the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the late senator's daughter, published a statement expressing her "profound disappointment" with the author's comments.
"Trans rights are human rights. J.K. Rowling’s attacks upon the transgender community are inconsistent with the fundamental beliefs and values of RFK Human Rights and represent a repudiation of my father’s vision," Kennedy wrote. "Women’s rights are not degraded by the recognition of trans rights. On the contrary: A commitment to human rights demands a commitment to combat discrimination in all its forms."
In a series of tweets in June, Rowling said she supported trans rights but did not believe in "erasing" the concept of biological sex.
Rowling responded to Kennedy's criticisms via a statement on her website saying that Kennedy incorrectly implied that Rowling was transphobic.
"As a longstanding donor to LGBT charities and a supporter of trans people’s right to live free of persecution, I absolutely refute the accusation that I hate trans people or wish them ill, or that standing up for the rights of women is wrong, discriminatory, or incites harm or violence to the trans community."