Authors are leaving J.K. Rowling’s agency over her comments
Multiple authors from J.K. Rowling’s literary agency have left after the agency refused to make a statement about the Harry Potter author’s comments against the trans community.
Blair Partnership, an agency that represents all of J.K. Rowling’s work, is under fire for not making a statement about the Harry Potter author’s transphobic comments. When authors Fox Fisher, Drew Davies, and Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir waited for the company to make a statement but when they didn’t, decided that the agency didn’t support their rights at all venues. Another author is rumored to have left but left their name anonymous.
The authors released a statement together after having asked the agency to “to reaffirm their commitment to transgender rights and equality”. According to the statement, they then felt, after private talks, that it was best to stop being represented by the agency. Stating: “We felt that they were unable to commit to any action that we thought was appropriate and meaningful.”
What was interesting, and probably one of the main “fighting points” online was that the authors brought up the idea of Freedom of speech and how the Rowling situation shouldn’t fall into that category. “Freedom of speech can only be upheld if the structural inequalities that hinder equal opportunities for underrepresented groups are challenged and changed,” they wrote and they’re not wrong.
To each their own but I personally understand the stance of these authors. Being associated with a company that lets someone make damaging transphobic remarks without making a statement on it isn’t something I would want to be associated with either so I stand with Fisher, Davis, and Jónsdóttir.
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