J.K. Rowling Misgenders Woman, References TERFs in Accidental Tweet

Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling made a glaring social media error this week when she accidentally tweeted a message featuring an expletive and the misgendering of a trans woman.

Rowling was sending a message to a reader who had submitted an illustration of the title character of The Ickabog, Rowling's new children's book. Rowling complimented the artwork, but accidentally pasted an unrelated message to the end of the tweet.

"I love this truly fabulous Ickabog, with its bat ears, mismatched eyes, and terrifying bloodstained teeth! In court, Wolf claimed the Facebook post in which he'd said he wanted to 'f**** up some TERFs' was just 'bravado'. #TheIckabog."

The second half of the now-deleted tweet referred to Tara Wolf, who was convicted in 2017 of assaulting anti-trans femininst (referred to by some as a TERF, a trans-exclusionary radical feminist) Maria Maclachlan. Rowling tweeted out a message she received that referred to Wolf with male pronouns.

The mistaken tweet, with Rowling apologized for (see below), is complicated by the fact that the author has previously supported transphobes. Rowling sided with Maya Forstater, who was fired for transphobic tweets last year after a judge ruled her controversial views were not protected under the United Kingdom's antidiscrimination laws.

"Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you. Live your best life in peace and security," Rowling tweeted in December. "But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill"