Will Young wades into the JK Rowling transgender debate

Will Young today waded into the JK Rowling transgender debate and branded the author ‘stupid’ – but insisted she is entitled to her views.

The singer, 41, urged the Harry Potter writer to ‘be a little smarter’ after she shared her controversial opinions on Twitter in June, where she tweeted about the use of the phrase ‘people who menstruate’ instead of women.

‘I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’, she wrote.

Rowling sparked outrage from LGBT charities and even Harry Potter actors condemned her.

In an interview with Attitude magazine, Leave Right Now singer Will Young branded Rowling as ‘stupid’. However, he said the 55-year-old should be allowed to have her opinions.

Young encouraged people to be ‘a little more forgiving because otherwise we’d all be hung out to dry’.

He continued: ‘There would be one thing in our lives at one point that we’ve said that if we put it on Twitter now it would make us look like a p***k.

‘So, let’s just be a little bit forgiving. But people need to choose now the areas that they do it.

‘JK Rowling, perhaps, did not choose the best words or the best area to write about her views on transgender people. Be a little bit smarter than that. 

‘Or at least if you are going to come across as stupid in your views – in my opinion, it was just stupid – I’d rather hear her say it, so I can get a clearer idea.

‘People need to be smarter about how they say things. I cannot agree with anyone’s views, but they’re allowed to have their view and also, we should be more forgiving.’

He added: ‘That would be my strap-line if I was running for Prime Minister.’

In June, Rowling’s controversial tweet led to a string of denunciations, including from the actor Daniel Radcliffe, who played Potter in the blockbuster film franchise, and other actors who starred in the series.

Rowling had earlier expressed support for a woman who had lost her job over what her employer deemed to be ‘transphobic’ tweets.

Rowling said ‘accusations and threats from trans activists have been bubbling in my Twitter timeline’ ever since but she had also been ‘overwhelmed’ by private messages of support.

She said the ‘toxicity’ around the discussion was damaging and frightening for people within and outside the trans community.

‘I’ve been particularly struck by the stories of brave detransitioned young women who’ve risked the opprobrium of activists by speaking up about a movement they say has harmed them,’ she said on Friday.

‘I’ve been forced to the unhappy conclusion that an ethical and medical scandal is brewing.’

Rowling’s comments are the latest controversy surrounding her work. In some parts of the world, they have been banned for being linked to witchcraft and the occult.

In recent weeks, the ‘Harry Potter’ creator told how she would give back an award presented by the US Kennedy family after one of its members criticised her views on gender issues.

The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation gave Rowling its Ripple of Hope honour last year.

But the group’s president, Kerry Kennedy, said this month the British writer’s outspoken views on gender ‘diminished the identity’ of trans people. 

‘Kerry Kennedy recently felt it necessary to publish a statement denouncing my views,’ Rowling said in a statement on her website.

‘The statement incorrectly implied that I was transphobic, and that I am responsible for harm to trans people,’ she added. ‘I absolutely refute the accusation. 

‘In solidarity with those who have contacted me but who are struggling to make their voices heard, and because of the very serious conflict of views between myself and RFKHR, I feel I have no option but to return the Ripple of Hope Award.’