Feminist bookstore will donate to Mermaids whenever someone buys a JK Rowling book

15th February 2020

The Second Shelf just said ‘Trans rights!’

Feminist bookstore The Second Shelf said ‘Trans rights’ when it announced that it would donate to Mermaids, a charity that supports trans and gender non-conforming children, whenever someone buys one of JK Rowling’s books.

The Second Shelf, which is based in Soho, in London, is a bookstore that only sells books from female authors.

In a simple tweet, the bookstore wrote: “Making a donation to @Mermaids_Gender every time we sell J K Rowling.”

In a follow-up tweet, it wrote: “Donation made this morning! A small amount, but we look forward to more opportunities to contribute to this vital organization.”

The Second Shelf’s donations come in the wake of JK Rowling’s tweets last year in support of Maya Forstater, a researcher who lost her job after tweeting that transgender women cannot change their biological sex, in reaction to proposals of the Gender Recognition Act which would allow people to identify as the opposite sex.

Rowling’s transphobic views initially came to light last year when fans noticed that she was following a proud transphobe on Twitter. She was also criticised in 2018 when someone discovered she liked a tweet that said trans women are “men in dresses”.

Earlier this month, Starbucks unveiled a new advert featuring a young trans person trying out their chosen name at a Starbucks. The company have also pledged to donate at least £100,000 to Mermaids – a UK charity that helps support gender-diverse children, young people and their families – through the sale of limited edition Mermaid cookies.

Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids said: “We are thrilled to be part of such a fantastic and empowering campaign. We know, from 25 years of experience, how important it is to acknowledge people’s true identities.

“The funds raised through #whatsyourname will allow us to make a meaningful change to our helpline services, which support young trans people and their families who are so desperately in need of access to information and reassurance.

“Simply by acknowledging the existence of trans people in a television advert will help many people to feel less isolated and understand that they are valued.”