British author J. K. Rowling, who is behind the best-selling Harry Potter series, lashed out at a Kansas-based extremist church on Twitter following the latter’s antigay marriage tweet.
The online duel started when the controversial Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) on Wednesday replied to Rowling’s gay marriage celebratory tweet which suggested that fictional characters Albus Dumbledore of the Harry Potter series and Gandalf of “The Lord of the Rings” could get married in Ireland.
“So @jk_rowling wants Dumbledore & Gandalf to marry in Ireland; if it happens, WBC will picket!,” the church said.
Rowling’s suggestion stemmed from the historic referendum that made Ireland the first country in the world to legislate same-sex unions by public vote, which the author described as “extraordinary and wonderful” in a previous tweet. In October 2007, three months after the publication of the last Harry Potter book, Rowling revealed that Dumbledore was gay.
READ: Ireland says ‘Yes’ to gay marriage in world first
Rowling fired back at WBC with a strongly worded tweet: “Alas, the sheer awesomeness of such a union in such a place would blow your tiny bigoted minds out of your thick sloping skulls.”
As of writing, Rowling’s sharp response has garnered almost 13,000 retweets and 22,000 favorites.
But while the author received praises for her stand, a Twitter user with a handle @livehead16 said Rowling’s reply was a form of giving attention to WBC, which she called “counterproductive.”
“@jk_rowling while I am in total agreement with you, giving them attention is counterproductive. That’s what they want,” @livehead16 tweeted.
Rowling defended herself and said she only did what she did to challenge hate speech.
“I don’t care about WBC. I think it’s important that scared gay kids who aren’t out yet see hate speech challenged,” she said. RC
RELATED STORIES
