JK Rowling drawn into new trans row after she mocked Remainer lawyer's Twitter rant
Maugham claimed Rowling had rejected his offers to debate the trans issue with him
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JK Rowling has found herself engulfed in yet another Twitter trans row after mocking a Left-wing lawyer.
The Harry Potter author hit out on Twitter after Jolyon Maugham KC reacted furiously to a review of his first book describing him as "a first-time author who should not be encouraged to re-offend ever again".
The review in The Times newspaper, which was not written by Rowling, was titled "The pompous bloviating of a Twitter KC" and said that the lawyer displayed "an ugly streak of meanness against anyone who disagrees with him".
Maugham, who fought the Government in the courts over Brexit, claimed the bad review of his book was because of where The Times "stands in relation to his politics".
JK Rowling hits out at Jo Maugham
He shared on Twitter: "In truth, in the eyes of newspapers like The Times, none of those things matter quite as much as your propensity, if you have a powerful voice, to conform to the destructive and self-serving paradigm it exists to maintain."
Rowling shortly after responded to her 14 million followers: "I'm sometimes asked how to handle bad reviews and usually answer along the lines of, 'We've all had them and it's never fun'.
"Sometimes you can learn from them. I find it helps to remember even Moby Dick got some stinkers.
"In future, I'll just say, 'Never go full Jolyon'."
Her remarks triggered a row as Maugham first suggested Rowling should read his book before turning his sights on her gender-critical views.
He claimed that gender-critical feminists, who believe sex is biological and cannot be changed, had rejected his offers to debate the issue with him.
He wrote: “We both know the review has got nothing to do with the quality of the book and everything to do with what The Times is, and where it stands in relation to my politics, which is exactly the point my tweet makes.
"I have written to many GC feminists seeking a private discussion of trans issues and to de-escalate the ‘debate’.
JK Rowling told Maugham "you want to cosy up to feminists, go lose another court case"
PA
"I am sorry my approaches have been rebuffed.
"The book seeks in earnest to advance that same agenda, because the status quo only serves the patriarchy.”
The encounter isn’t the first time that Maugham has spoken out against Rowling’s stance on transgender issues.
In 2020, in response to the best-selling author mocking the term "people who menstruate" instead of using "women", he tweeted: "If you are a trans boy or man who menstruates, Jo Rowling is saying you are a woman; she is (in the parlance) misgendering."