Rising British star Harry Melling is the latest Harry Potter actor to take sides against author J.K. Rowling over her stance on transgenderism, declaring in a recent interview that “transgender women are women” and “transgender men are men.”
Harry Melling — who played the pudgy, bratty Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies and stars alongside Christian Bale in the new Netflix film The Pale Blue Eye — expressed his views on transgender identity to The Independent.
“I can only speak for myself, and what I feel, to me, is very simple,” he said, “which is that transgender women are women and transgender men are men. Every single person has the right to choose who they are and to identify themselves as what’s true to themselves.”
He added: “I don’t want to join the debate of pointing fingers and saying, ‘That’s right, that’s wrong,’ because I don’t think I’m the correct spokesperson for that. But I do believe that everybody has the right to choose.”
His opinion stands in stark opposition to J.K. Rowling’s view on transgender identity. The novelist has stated she believes that transgender “women” are different than biological women and that gender is rooted in biological fact.
Harry Potter stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are among those who have spoken out against Rowling’s views or downplayed her contributions to the success of the Harry Potter movies.
But some Harry Potter actors have resisted trashing the novelist, including Tom Felton and the late Robbie Coltrane. As Breitbart News reported, Ralph Fiennes recently defended Rowling against attacks from transgender activists, saying the verbal harassment she has experienced is both “disgusting” and “appalling.”
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