For the last couple of years, there has been a lot of talk within the Harry Potter fandom about controversial comments the books’ author J.K. Rowling made about transgender women. This has led to people boycotting the franchise, and quite the brouhaha within the community of Harry Potter fans. Many of the cast members from the Harry Potter movies have spoken out against the author, and shown their support for transgender people, including the actor behind the titular character, Daniel Radcliffe. Now, the actor is continuing to show his support for LGBTQ+ youth by participating in a new series for The Trevor Project.
Radcliffe participated in a new roundtable series for The Trevor Project called Sharing Space. The series is meant to amplify the voices of young LGBTQ+ folks, and the episode the Harry Potter star is featured in commemorated Transgender Day of Visibility. The conversation came out amid controversy surrounding comments J.K. Rowling made about transgender women. The actor has made it clear he does not agree with what the author has said, and he has made an active effort to be an ally and advocate for LGBTQ+ youth. The Swiss Army Man star spoke with the organization about why he was excited to participate in this project, saying:
We listen to so many people talk about trans youth and hear them talked about so often in the news, but very rarely do we actually hear from these youth directly. It was an absolute privilege to get to meet and listen to this incredible group of young people. At the end of the day, if you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids.
Not only did Radcliffe participate in this conversation, he’s also been a longtime supporter of The Trevor Project. The statement about the episode explained that the actor has been working with the organization for over a decade, and he’s worked on PSAs for them, and he won an award in 2011 for his continued support of LGBTQ+ youth.
Along with partnering with organizations like The Trevor Project, and being an advocate, Radcliffe has made it very clear he does not agree with the comments Rowling made about transgender women. When the Miracle Workers star spoke out against the author part of his statement read:
It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.
The actor later explained that he spoke up when he did because he had met so many young queer and trans folks who “had a huge amount of identification with Potter.” He said he knew they were hurt by Rowling’s comments, and he “wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way.” Along with Radcliffe other stars from the Harry Potter movies, including Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Harry Melling have all responded to the author’s comments, and made it clear they support the trans community.
Along with participating in The Trevor Project’s new series, and continuing his work to support and advocate for LGBTQ+ youth, Daniel Radcliffe is also set to star in the new season of Miracle Workers, which is slated on the 2023 TV schedule, and he'll make his return to Broadway in the musical Merrily We Roll Along this fall.
