'Harry Potter' Luna Lovegood Actress Defends J.K. Rowling, Wants People To "Give Her More Grace And Listen" After Facing Backlash For Transgender Comments

Evanna Lynch, best known for her role as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter series, recently opened up about her thoughts on J.K. Rowling's "controversial" comments on womanhood and gender identities. Lynch addressed the big gender debate between the author and social media with The Telegraph. "I was very naive when I was dragged into that conversation,” Lynch said. 

She continued, "I didn’t even know there were two sides. I had a view of, like, good and bad. I do have compassion for both sides of the argument. I know what it was like to be a teenager who hated my body so much I wanted to crawl out of my skin, so I have great compassion for trans people, and I don’t want to add to their pain."

“I understand being too triggered to be able to have a conversation. If you put me in a room with one of my doctors who treated me in the past, ooh, I’d kick off. Like, I would want to scream and yell names," the Irish-born actress said. “I do also think it’s important that J.K. Rowling has been amplifying the voices of detransitioners. I had this impulse to go, 'Let’s all just stop talking about it,' and I think probably I’m a bit braver now about having uncomfortable conversations."

Lynch later added that she was surprised by the backlash Rowling faced, "especially when she wrote her essay [about her experiences with her unhappy first marriage]. I just felt that her character has always been to advocate for the most vulnerable members of society. The problem is that there’s a disagreement over who’s the most vulnerable. I do wish people would just give her more grace and listen to her."

In 2020, Rowling came under fire for allegedly liking tweets that described transwomen as "men in dresses." She apparently "mocked" an opinion piece that labeled women as "people who menstruate." In June of that same year, Rowling detailed her worries on the trans agenda and its dangers to "young people, gay people," and the "erosion of women's and girl's rights." 

Despite gaining criticism from Harry Potter stars and users online, Rowling continued to speak up. Last month, the author went against a self-proclaimed transwoman – Isla Bryson – who was placed in an all-female prison after being convicted of rape. While critics tried to censor her, Rowling used her large platform to protect women. 

On January 25, 2023, she wrote, "Men defining what a woman is, what women should and shouldn’t fear, what women should and shouldn’t say, what rights women should be fine with giving up and, of course, what constitutes 'real' misogyny: get a bloody mirror. That’s real misogyny, looking right back at you."

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