Hilary Mantel is no “they”
Mantel also waded into the controversy surrounding Rowling’s beliefs on transgender rights which have divided the literary world.
The Harry Potter author wrote a personal essay last year which included examples of where she believes demands by transgender activists were dangerous to women, which were described by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups as divisive and transphobic.
Later Rowling, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood and others wrote an open letter warning that the spread of “censoriousness” was leading to “an intolerance of opposing views” and “a vogue for public shaming and ostracism”.
Mantel said the online attacks on Rowling after her essay were “unjustified and shameful”.
She added: “It is barbaric that a tiny minority should take command of public discourse and terrify those who disagree with them.”
She said: “I recently found myself ‘misgendered.’ I received a university publication, with news items relating to alumni, where I was referred to as ‘they’, not ‘she.’
“My books were ‘their books.’ I wasn’t singled out – the other alumni were similarly treated.
“I thought: ‘Being a woman means a lot to me. I do not want my womanhood confiscated in print.’”
And women in general don’t want women erased in print. We’re already erased, we’re struggling to be unerased, and along comes gender ideology to erase us all over again. Sick of this shit.
