JK Rowling’s views on trans people cost me my longest friendship

I felt like by defending J.K. Rowling, my cousin had outed herself as a transphobe (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)

J.K. Rowling ended my relationship with my cousin. 

Or, at least, transphobia did. These days, it feels to me like the two are synonymous. 

It started with a meme, back in 2019: a collage calling out trans people who wrote some pretty nasty tweets at Rowling for standing with Maya Forstater, a researcher who won an employment tribunal after she didn’t have her contract...