Author J.K. Rowling defended her stance on the transgender community in a lengthy blog post Wednesday.
Rowling has been called "transphobic" after she posted several controversial tweets about transgender people.
In one of the tweets, she took issue with a headline that used the phrase "people who menstruate," instead of just "women." The headline was inclusive of transgender people.
"'People who menstruate.' I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Rowling tweeted.
In a tweet sharing the blog post, she wrote "TERF wars." TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. Critics have given that title to the author.
"This isn't an easy piece to write, for reasons that will shortly become clear, but I know it's time to explain myself on an issue surrounded by toxicity," she wrote at the start of her piece. "I write this without any desire to add to that toxicity."
In the nearly 4,000-word post, she brings up the incident that caused people to begin to call her transphobic. The name calling began after she said she supported a tax specialist who was fired for tweets considered anti-transgender last December.
Rowling has since tweeted her own controversial statements, which led people to accuse her of being transphobic.
In the blog post, Rowling indicates she has "five reasons for being worried about the new trans activism."
Among the reasons she mentions include her charity for women and children, being an ex-teacher, her interest in free speech, a concern about "the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition" and her experience as a victim of sexual and domestic abuse.
She questions whether there is a "contagion" fueled by social media that is causing more young people to come out as transgender.
She also states, as a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault, she is "deeply concerned about the consequences of the current trans activism."
"So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he's a woman – and, as I've said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth," she wrote.
People tore into the author's post calling it a "transphobic manifesto," NBC News reports.
Actress Felicia Day said Rowling's piece was "steeped in fear and hate" in a tweet.
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