Harry Melling who played the role of Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films hops in the conversation regarding J.K Rowling’s anti-trans comments.
Rowling drew fire for her transphobic remarks as early as 2018 and has since continued to promote inappropriate language toward the transgender community. She is becoming a contentious character online as a result.
In a recent interview with The Independent, the Harry Potter actor shares his reviews of the writer’s comment. He says “transgender women are women and transgender men are men” and that everyone has the right to choose their personality.
He says, “I can only speak for myself, and what I feel, to me, is very simple, which is that transgender women are women and transgender men are men. Every single person has the right to choose who they are and to identify themselves as what’s true to themselves. I don’t want to join the debate of pointing fingers and saying, ‘That’s right, that’s wrong,’ because I don’t think I’m the correct spokesperson for that. But I do believe that everybody has the right to choose.”
Earlier, other cast members of the Harry Potter series took a stand for the transgender community and also apologized for the writer’s statement while some spoke in favor of Rowling.
Melling’s response stands out, too, in that he declines to get involved in the discussion not because he doesn’t want to upset Rowling, but rather because he recognizes that as a cisgender, male actor, he isn’t the “proper voice” for transgender problems.
