B.C. Liberal Candidate Lorraine Brett Defends Sharing J.K. Rowling’s Transphobic Screed

October 22, 2020 Off By EveAim

Another day, another B.C. Liberal candidate controversy as days continue to tick down to the Oct. 24 provincial election voting day. 

Less than 24 hours after Laurie Throness resigned as the Liberal candidate for Chilliwack-Kent after comparing free contraception to eugenics, and a week after North Vancouver-Seymour candidate Jane Thornthwaite faced backlash for a sexist joke about a political rival, yet another Liberal is in hot water.

This time it’s New Westminster candidate Lorraine Brett. Screenshots of a deleted tweet from Brett surfaced on Twitter Friday morning that showed the Liberal candidate shared and supported British author J.K. Rowling’s “TERF manifesto” in June.

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“J.K. Rowling’s best work! Thank you!” Brett wrote on June 10.

The Tweet and associated account appear to have been deleted ahead of the election. Brett’s current Twitter account was created in September of this year. 

Rowling’s essay has widely been panned as transphobic, and a continuation of a pattern of dangerous language from the popular author around gender identity. Although Rowling has never directly stated she is against trans rights, she’s employed many “transphobic dog whistles” and sympathized with trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs). She’s even gone so far as to argue that trans women are a “threat” to womanhood.

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Several other Vancouver-area candidates have called on Brett to resign following the tweet’s resurfacing. 

On Friday, Brett defended her support of Rowling’s essay in a statement posted to Twitter. She did not apologize for promoting the essay, but doubled down on her support for it, arguing that “it’s important to hear different ideas in a fair and open society. 

Brett also affirmed her and the party’s “unequivocal” support for the LGBTQ community.

The B.C. Liberal Party did not provide comment to HuffPost Canada’s request.

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