JK Rowling’s new novel about murderous cross-dresser accused of being transphobic

Trans activist Paris Lees called the book a ‘transphobic Silence of the Lambs’

JK Rowling’s new novel, Troubled Blood, has been accused of being transphobic.

The book, which is the latest release in the Strike detective series that Rowling writes under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, centres around a cisgender male serial killer who fetishises women’s clothing, and in one instance in the book, disguises himself as a woman to trick the person he is abducting. 

Activists, reviewers and people in the transgender community have argued that the book has an anti-trans plotline that could be harmful.

Quoting a Telegraph review of the novel, one Twitter user wrote: “‘The meat of the book is the investigation into a cold case: the disappearance of GP Margot Bamborough in 1974, thought to have been a victim of Dennis Creed, a transvestite serial killer.’ Transphobic Silence of the Lambs tropes! How original!”

Trans activist Paris Lees tweeted: “JK Rowling's new book's about a ‘transvestite serial killer’. Meanwhile over in the real world the number of trans people killed in Brazil has risen by 70 per cent this past year, young trans women are left to burn in cars and men who kill us (for being trans) are pardoned and sent home."

She added: “I know a lot of you who follow me probably share some of the fears around the myth about ‘men who dress up as women to hurt women’. If I wasn't trans I suspect I would too. But I ask you to look inside your heart and question what is really happening here.”

Another wrote: “JK Rowling could have just... not done all of this and her trans fans (there are lots) would have continued to support her. I'm glad she's being honest about it. You really can't write a 900 page transphobic fantasy and then say, ‘I'm not transphobic.’”

“Does JK Rowling realise that she’s literally putting trans people’s lives at risk?” added one person. “We are regularly killed based on the idea that 1) we’re predators and 2) we aren’t real. Transphobic culture=death.”

Another said: “For someone who has said she 'loves' and 'supports' trans people, perhaps she should support them by avoiding deeply harmful tropes about our community.”

The backlash comes in the wake of a trans row that has been raging since June, when Rowling mocked a headline that included the inclusive phrasing “people who menstruate”.

She has since spoken out on the topic of transgender rights several times, and wrote an essay on the issue that was countered by Harry Potter stars including Daniel Radcliffe.

Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter franchise, recently defended the author over accusations of transphobia.

He told Radio Times: "I don't think what she said was offensive really. I don't know why but there's a whole Twitter generation of people who hang around waiting to be offended.

"They wouldn't have won the war, would they? That's me talking like a grumpy old man, but you just think, 'Oh, get over yourself. Wise up, stand up straight and carry on."

When contacted by The Independent, Rowling’s representatives declined to comment.

Troubled Blood is published today (15 September).