JK Rowling is being accused of homophobia for liking a number of tweets opposing a ban on conversion therapy in Canada.

One post liked by Rowling was from an account called We The Females, which read: “@jk_rowling A big thank you from Canada where women’s rights to privacy were flushed down the toilet with Bill C16, & now Bill C8 will criminalize a therapist who counsels a child to accept the body they were born in. You have given us hope. #IStandWithJKRowling #StopBillC8”

Bill C8 proposes that causing an adult or child to undergo conversion therapy against their will shall be made an offence.

The bill defines conversion therapy as “a practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour.”

JK Rowling just liked a tweet opposing a bill that will criminalise conversion therapy (both sexual orientation and gender identity) at the federal level in Canada.

If you were on the fence or thought people were overreacting before, now is the time to take a stand. pic.twitter.com/GQwUt9gug8

— Simon Whitten @simonwhitten.bsky.social (@Simon_Whitten) June 29, 2020

Rowling also liked a tweet of a woman wearing a hoodie which reads: “Straight white male” on the front, with “LGB Drop The T” on the back.

The Harry Potter author also deleted a tweet in which she said her love for Steven King had reached “new heights” and unfollowed him after King tweeted that “trans women are women.”

In early June, she faced a tirade of criticism after she posted a number of anti-trans tweets. In response to an article titled ‘Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate,’ she tweeted, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

In late 2019, JK Rowling came under fire for similar comments after tweeting her support for a British researcher whose employment contract was terminated over transphobic remarks.

Twitter also uncovered that Rowling’s pen name, “Robert Galbraith,” also happens to be the name of an infamous conversion therapist. While this may be sheer coincidence, Rowling has yet to comment.

https://twitter.com/dev_deets/status/1270387782402392065?s=20

The trans community have responded to Rowling’s abusive tweets with respect and empathy. Paris Lees invited Rowling to have lunch with her and some trans young people.

A number of high profile trans and non-binary campaigners wrote an open letter standing in solidarity with JK Rowling after the Sun published an interview with Rowling’s ex-husband with the headline: “I slapped JK and I’m not sorry.”