J.K. Rowling Slams Celebs and Royals Who Backed 'Trans Kids' NGO in Safeguarding Row

J.K. Rowling has come under fire in the recent years for criticising the use of 'gender-neutral' language to describe menstruating women and challenging assertions by politicians that 'trans women are women'.

Authoress J.K. Rowling has called out celebrities for backing an NGO newly exposed for giving gender-altering treatments to children without their parents' knowledge.

The Harry Potter writer laid into supporters of Mermaids, which states its mission as "supporting transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children" after an exposé by the Daily Telegraph.

Staff at the charity offered to supply a 'breast binder' device to an undercover reporter posing as a 14-year-old girl who self-identified as a boy. When the reporter said her parents would not allow her to wear the garment, the staff offered to send it to another address where the 'girl' could pick it up without them knowing.

When Observer columnist Sonia Sodha tweeted that "There are a lot of people in the NHS and in government who should feel deeply ashamed of their role in this," Rowling replied: "Not to mention corporations and celebrities who've been cheering Mermaids on without doing the slightest bit of due diligence."

Rowling also posted that "Mermaids' Chair of Trustees recently gave evidence under oath that Mermaids is 'not a medical organisation,'," but that it was now "advising kids on puberty blockers and providing binders to underage girls without parental consent."

Mermaids has received government funding and runs training course for the state schools and the National Health Service (NHS).

The binders, which compress the breasts to disguise the bust or even reduce tissue growth can cause breathing difficulties, spinal deformities and even broken ribs.

Former Royal College of Paediatrics president Dr Hilary Cass has described the restrictive garments as "painful and potentially harmful."

Puberty-blocking drugs, which are used to treat the medical condition of precocious puberty in young children, have also controversially been prescribed to teenagers who expressed a wish to change gender to stop them developing adult sexual characteristics.

The registered charity's high-profile supporters include Harry Potter star Emma Watson, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, along with global café chain Starbucks, which offered "Mermaid's cookies" for sale in 2020 in a bid to raise £100,000 for the group.

In a statement, Mermaids said moderators on its online "Youth forums" had discovered an adult trying to pose as a 14-year-old "seemingly with the aim of discrediting Mermaids" and blocked them — although the NGO was unable to identify that person as a journalist.

Justifying the use of binding garments, Mermaids said that "some trans masculine, non-binary and gender diverse people experience bodily dysphoria, as a result of their chest, and binding, for some, helps alleviate that distress."

Medical experts say body dysphoria is common among children as the go through puberty.

The group claimed it "takes a harm reduction position" and that providing the binders to children was "preferable to the likely alternative of unsafe practices and/or continued or increasing dysphoria."

Rowling has previously received death threats for her 'gender-critical' views on allowing biological males access to women-only spaces and sporting competitions.