Helen Lewis

—Wrote in opposition to U.K. legislation that would ease the process of changing one’s legal gender by, in part, removing the requirement of a medical diagnosis from two separate doctors. Lewis wrote, “What the government proposes is a radical rewriting of our understanding of identity: now it’s a question of an internal essence—a soul, if you will. Being a woman or a man is now entirely in your head.” Lewis also asked, “In this climate, who would challenge someone with a beard exposing their penis in a women’s changing room?”

—Described the transgender rights movement as “the imperial overreach of a handful of trans activists, in trying to rewrite widely accepted ideas about gender by stealth,” and added that activism “has done nothing to improve the lives of trans people.” In the same piece, Lewis claimed victimhood over being described as a TERF.

—Was removed as a voice actor from the Ubisoft game Watch Dogs: Legion for offensive remarks about gender identity.

—Disparaged former fans of J.K. Rowling who spoke out against her remarks about transgender women: “Fans are discovering that someone they once treated as omniscient, someone they loved with a ferocious, possessive, childish love, is an entirely different person, with different values from their own.” The Mugglenet fan site had noted: “As this fandom enters its third decade, J.K. Rowling has chosen this time to loudly pronounce harmful and disproven beliefs about what it means to be a transgender person… Our stance is firm: Transgender women are women. Transgender men are men. Nonbinary people are nonbinary. Intersex people exist and should not be forced to live in the binary. We stand with Harry Potter fans in these communities, and while we don’t condone the mistreatment JKR has received for airing her opinions about transgender people, we must reject her beliefs.” Lewis wrote in the article: “It is understandable that transgender people feel weary and harassed; their identities and their bodies have been conscripted into a culture war. Many feminists who support Rowling feel the same.” At least 44 transgender people were killed in the U.S. in 2020.