Judy Blume Clarifies That She’s Pro-Trans Rights, Says ‘Sunday Times’ Quoted Her Out of Context

Judy Blume, author of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret and other classics, has announced on Twitter that she’s firmly in favor of trans rights.

Why the sudden declaration? Well, it’s good to be vocally pro-trans rights in general, but in this case, Blume is reiterating her support for trans people after a Sunday Times article by Hadley Freeman painted her as an ally to J. K. Rowling.

In an interview with Freeman, Blume reportedly said that she could empathize with someone who had been harassed online. Blume reportedly said, “I love her. I am behind her 100 per cent as I watch from afar.” Freeman then used that quote to claim that Blume agrees with Rowling’s well-documented transphobic ideas. In her statement on Twitter, Blume writes that “I vehemently disagree with anyone who does not fully support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bullshit.”

Blume also posted an excerpt from an interview with Variety, in which she expressed support for the queer community.

Blume isn’t the first author whom Freeman has tried to turn into a spokesperson for transphobia. In February 2022, Freeman interviewed Margaret Atwood for The Guardian, and repeatedly pressed Atwood to express support for “gender critical” (i.e. anti-trans) views, despite Atwood’s vocal support of “nature’s infinite variety.” In the article, Freeman implies that cis women are “physically threatened” by trans women, and during the interview, she grilled Atwood on her views about trans people until Atwood angrily called the topic Freeman’s “obsession of the day.”

Unsurprisingly, Freeman herself has a history of transphobia. She has denied Rowling’s transphobia on social media. In one Sunday Times article, she claimed that trans teens “wielded” suicidal thoughts “as a weapon to get their way.”

Despite the efforts of some transphobic journalists, writers like Blume and Atwood have set the record straight: they firmly support trans people and trans rights.

(featured image: Johnny Louis/WireImage / Getty Images)