{"id":37967,"date":"2026-08-11T05:04:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37967"},"modified":"2026-08-11T05:04:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:04:51","slug":"i-think-the-trans-community-deserve-safety-and-dignity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37967","title":{"rendered":"I think the trans community deserve safety and dignity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/films\/harry-potter\"><i>Harry Potter<\/i><\/a>\u00a0star Bel Powley has said she \u201cstrongly disagrees\u201d with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/j-k-rowling\">J.K. Rowling<\/a>\u2018s views on gender, voicing her support for the trans community.<\/p>\n<p>The actor, who rose to fame in 2015 film\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/features\/why-the-diary-of-a-teenage-girl-is-the-most-important-feminist-film-of-2015-689\"><i>The Diary\u00a0Of\u00a0A\u00a0Teenage Girl<\/i>,<\/a>\u00a0will play Petunia Dursley in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/brands\/hbo\">HBO<\/a>\u2018s forthcoming TV adaptation of the book saga, with Rowling serving as executive producer on the series.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/film\/j-k-rowling-reveals-loved-ones-begged-her-to-keep-anti-trans-views-private-3760639\">Rowling\u2019s controversial\u00a0gender\u00a0views and hostility to the trans community<\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0already created headlines during the filming of the show, with several actors choosing to publicly distance themselves from the author\u2019s stance on the issue, and now Powley has made her own views clear.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/tv\/2026\/08\/10\/bel-powley-possession-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>The Telegraph<\/i><\/a>, she said:\u00a0\u201cI strongly disagree with J.K. Rowling\u2019s views on gender.\u00a0I think that the trans community\u00a0deserve\u00a0safety and dignity and respect\u00a0and total acceptance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Harry Potter and the Philosopher&amp;apos;s Stone | Official Teaser | HBO Max\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RIu4sFKGi6E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>She went on to say that her difference in views has not affected her love for the series in general, adding: \u201cBut I love\u00a0<i>Harry Potter<\/i>. I grew up\u00a0with\u00a0the books. I am from that first generation of readers and, again, I love magic and spookiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other actors to have spoken out include John Lithgow, who will be playing Albus Dumbledore. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/tv\/dumbledore-actor-considered-quitting-hbo-harry-potter-series-over-j-k-rowlings-anti-trans-views-3935682\">He said he considered leaving the project after receiving criticism for his\u00a0involvement<\/a>, but\u00a0chose to stay as he said the books are \u201cclearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Lithgow did, however, describe Rowling\u2019s views as \u201cironic and inexplicable\u201d, although he said he felt some of her comments had been \u201ctwisted and misrepresented\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/nick-frost\">Nick Frost<\/a>, who plays Rubeus Hagrid,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/tv\/nick-frost-hits-out-at-j-k-rowling-over-trans-views-following-harry-potter-tv-show-casting-3868529\">also said his opinions \u201cdon\u2019t align in any way, shape or form\u201d with Rowling\u2019s<\/a>, while Severus Snape actor Paapa Essiedu was among more than 400 UK entertainment figures to sign an open letter calling for the protection of trans rights after the 2025 Supreme Court\u00a0ruling on the legal definition of a woman.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/tv\/harry-potter-actor-wont-be-fired-for-pro-trans-views-says-j-k-rowling-i-dont-have-the-power-3860551\">Rowling later said she would not have fired him for his actions even if she had the power to do so<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Essiedu\u00a0has also said that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/tv\/harry-potter-star-paapa-essiedu-says-he-received-death-threats-after-being-cast-as-snape-in-hbo-series-3935960\">he has received racist abuse and death threats after being cast as Snape<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The trans issue has also caused a rift between Rowling and the original\u00a0<i>Harry Potter\u00a0<\/i>cast, with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/daniel-radcliffe-jk-rowling-makes-me-really-sad-3752314\">Daniel Radcliffe saying the distance between them made him \u201creally sad\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>HBO\u2019s version of Harry Potter will consist of seven seasons, one for each of the original books. The first, adapting <i>Harry Potter\u00a0And\u00a0The\u00a0Philosopher\u2019s Stone<\/i>, premieres on HBO Max on Christmas Day.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/tv\/every-actor-confirmed-for-hbos-harry-potter-tv-series-3855980\">Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair\u00a0Stout\u00a0and Arabella Stanton lead the cast as Harry,\u00a0Ron\u00a0and\u00a0Hermione\u00a0respectively<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harry Potter\u00a0star Bel Powley has said she \u201cstrongly disagrees\u201d with\u00a0J.K. Rowling\u2018s views on gender, voicing her support for the trans community. The actor, who rose to fame in 2015 film\u00a0The Diary\u00a0Of\u00a0A\u00a0Teenage Girl,\u00a0will play Petunia Dursley in\u00a0HBO\u2018s forthcoming TV adaptation of the book saga, with Rowling serving as executive producer on the series. Rowling\u2019s controversial\u00a0gender\u00a0views and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bel_powley_2026.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}