JK Rowling Wades Back into 'Gender Identity Ideology' Debate

In a new interview, "Harry Potter" and "Fantastic Beasts" novelist JK Rowling waded back into the controversy sparked by tweets last summer that many saw as being transphobic, media outlets report.

Speaking with Good Housekeeping magazine, the novelist said: "Many women are concerned about the challenges to their fundamental rights posed by certain aspects of gender identity ideology," the New York Post reported.

Rowling claimed that her mailbags are stuffed with supportive letters for her views. She also said that she has received notes expressing regret from people who have undergone gender confirmation procedures.

"Some of the most heartbreaking letters I've received have been from young women, who regret the irreversible surgeries they've undertaken," Rowling told the magazine, reports UK newspaper the Daily Mail. "These stories need to be told," Rowling added.

"My correspondence have included medical staff, social workers, prison workers, workers in women's refuges and members of the LGBT community, including trans people."

The fantasy writer denounced what she called a "climate of fear" around the issue, the Daily Mail said.

'Many are afraid to speak up because they fear for their jobs and even for their personal safety," Rowling said. "I believe everybody should be free to live a life that is authentic to them, and that they should be safe to do so.

"I also believe that we need a more nuanced conversation around women's rights and around the huge increase in numbers of girls and young women who are seeking to transition," Rowling went on to say.

The author became embroiled in controversy last June when she took exception to an op-ed that referred to "people who menstruate," posting a tart tweet in which she wrote, "I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"

The following month she sparked new outrage with a tweet that suggested teens who are not actually trans are being "shunted towards hormones and surgery," and calling gender affirmation treatments "a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people."

Rowling's comments drew pushback fro celebrities and transgender equality advocates. Criticism also came from Daniel Radcliffe and Eddie Redmayne, the stars of the movie franchises based on her books.

Other celebs came to Rowling's defense, signing on to a letter calling for an end to the "hate speech" coming toward the writer. "Signatories of the letter include Booker winner Ian McEwan, actor Griff Rhys Jones, actress Frances Barber and playwright Sir Tom Stoppard," noted the Daily Mail.

But the criticism directed at Rowling intensified with the publication of Rowling's latest book, "Troubled Blood," which was put out "under Rowling's pseudonym Robert Galbraith and features a 'transvestite serial killer'," reported the Daily Mail.