Harry Potter author doubles down on social media to call Lucy Clark a ‘straight, white, middle-aged bloke’
: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
JK Rowling has branded a transgender football manager a “straight, white, middle-aged bloke” as she angrily denied bullying.
The Harry Potter author mocked Lucy Clark, who has been appointed manager of Sutton United’s women’s football team in south London.
LGBT charity Pride posted on social media a photograph of Clark, who was previously a referee, holding a pink whistle and a red card.
The post said: “Lucy Clark, the world’s first openly transgender referee, has made history by becoming the first trans manager in the top 5 divisions of English women’s football.
“The former referee has taken over at Sutton United. FABULOUS!”
Recommended
Transgender referee becomes manager
Rowling said on X, formerly Twitter: “When I was young all the football managers were straight, white, middle-aged blokes, so it’s fantastic to see how much things have changed.”
Responding to a report that she had “compared” Clark to a “straight, white, middle-aged bloke”, she doubled down by stating: “I didn’t compare him to one. He IS one.”
The author was criticised for mocking Clark, with some people on social media accusing her of being cruel, but she gave them short shrift.
She said: “Calling a man a man is not ‘bullying’ or ‘punching down.’ Crossdressing straight men are currently one of the most pandered-to demographics in existence, and women are under no obligation to applaud the people caricaturing us.”
Responding to another accusation of bullying, Rowling said: “You’re right. No demographic is more vulnerable and oppressed than large, tattooed crossdressers who get plum jobs in women’s sport. I don’t know how I could have been so cruel.”
‘Hate-fuelled’
Comments
More stories
More from News
More from The Telegraph
