Pedro Pascal has reflected on his decision to label British author J.K. Rowling a “heinous loser” over her comments about trans rights.
In April, following the UK Supreme Court’s verdict that trans women are not legally women under the Equality Act, the Harry Potter author celebrated the landmark ruling with a photo from her boat, smoking a cigar, alongside the caption, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
The Last of Us star, 50, whose younger sister, Lux, is trans, promptly slammed Rowling’s gleeful response on Instagram, calling it “awful, disgusting” and “heinous LOSER behavior.”
Addressing his public condemnation of Rowling in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Pascal admitted: “The one thing that I would say I agonized over a little bit was just, ‘Am I helping? Am I f***ing helping?’
“It’s a situation that deserves the utmost elegance so that something can actually happen, and people will actually be protected,” he acknowledged.
“Listen, I want to protect the people I love,” he asserted. “But it goes beyond that. Bullies make me f***ing sick.”
Pascal has been a vocal supporter and advocate of the LGBT+ community since his sister, Lux, came out as trans in 2021.
In another Instagram post shared in February this year, the actor wrote: “I can’t think of anything more vile and small and pathetic than terrorizing the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except the right to exist.”
The UK Supreme Court’s monumental ruling came after a series of challenges brought by the campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS), backed by Rowling, over the definition of a “woman.”
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The ruling means that transgender women can no longer sit on public boards in places set aside for women. It could also impact the way that trans people use single-sex spaces such as toilets, refuge spaces and hospital wards.
In recent years, Rowling has become an increasingly divisive figure because of her views on transgender people. In an apparent bid to protect women’s rights, the best-selling fantasy author has repeatedly misgendered trans women and further implied the community was full of sexual predators.
Rowling has denied being transphobic, but has previously stated that she would rather go to jail than refer to a trans person by their preferred pronouns.
Her continued attacks on the trans community have caused significant fallout with the Harry Potter franchise’s leading trio, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, all of whom have shared their unwavering support for trans people.
Rowling previously said she would not forgive the actors for criticizing her opinions, telling them to “save their apologies.”