Harry Potter: Daniel Radcliffe REVEALS why he needed to speak on J. K. Rowling's transphobic comment

Daniel Radcliffe is coming clean on why he spoke out against Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling's transphobic comments. For the unversed, Daniel penned an open letter - published on The Trevor Project's website - in June 2020 in solidarity with the transgender community and against J. K Rowling's anti-trans tweets, which shook Potterverse: "Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I."

Daniel Radcliffe: The Reason I Needed to Say Something...

Daniel Radcliffe, in an interview with IndieWire, spoke passionately on how his open letter was aimed at the Harry Potter fans who felt wronged by J. K. Rowling's transphobic comments: "The reason I was felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I've met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that. And so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way. And that was really important."

As an outspoken supporter of The Trevor Project since 2010 - an organisation which runs the world's largest suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth - it "was really important" for Daniel Radcliffe to speak out in support of the transgender community. Radcliffe doesn't think he would've been able to "look" himself "in the mirror" if he had not said anything: "But it's not mine to guess what's going on in someone else's head."

In his letter, Daniel had also scribed, "If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much. Love always, Dan."

Daniel Radcliffe: Work Front

Meanwhile, Daniel Radcliffe is currently on a promotional spree for his new movie Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, loosely based on "Weird Al" Yankovic's life and career. While Daniel plays the titular role, starring alongside him is Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna and Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento. Directed by Eric Appel, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is slated to release on November 4, 2022.

ALSO READ: Robbie Coltrane Demise: Daniel Radcliffe, JK Rowling pay heartfelt tribute to Harry Potter’s Hagrid