J.K. Rowling's new target? The asexual community

J.K. Rowling has a new target for her to criticize and invalidate on social media: asexuals.

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In the past decade, the author of the Harry Potter books has made more headlines for her anti-trans social media posts — going as far as attacking cisgender athletes who she assumed were trans — than her actual writing and existing IP. Now, she's added another section of the queer community to her target list.

On Monday, April 6, Rowling wrote on X, "Happy International Fake Oppression Day to everyone who wants complete strangers to know they don't fancy a shag." The caption was accompanied by a graphic celebrating International Asexual Day.

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International Asexuality Day "is a coordinated worldwide campaign promoting the ace umbrella, including demisexual, grey-asexual and other ace identities," according to the IAD's website. The four themes of the day are advocacy, celebration, education, and solidarity.

Asexuality has been considered a valid sexuality for decades, with Dr. Alfred Kinsey's landmark 1948 and 1953 sexual behavior studies finding that 1.5 percent of males interviewed belonged in the "X" category on the Kinsey Scale, indicating "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions" and up to 19 percent of female interviewees belonged in that category.

Rowling also replied to many of the people who joined her in bemoaning the existence of people who identify as asexual.

"I want an International Bored Of This Shit day," she replied to someone who had asked "what will be next?"

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Author John Boyne added in his two cents, saying "this is the problem with lumping everyone who isn't straight into a 'LGBTQ etc' category. If asexual people don't want sex, good luck to them. But gay people quite like it, actually. So why am I and other gays thrown in a category with them? Makes no sense."

"Refusing to accept that people who don't like sex belong in the gay category is akin to wanting segregated bathrooms in the 1950s, John, as approximately a thousand gender activists will inform you once their hands stop literally shaking," Rowling replied.

Boyne is the author of the controversial novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which the Centre for Holocaust Education said "regularly elicited profound and often somewhat misplaced sympathy for German and even Nazi families" from readers, who said the book "helped them to see [Nazi families] as 'victims' too."

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Another anti-trans X activist replied to Rowling saying "As a gay man can someone tell me why straight people not wanting to get laid has ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME?! I’m so grateful to have organisations like LGB Alliance in 2025 to push back against this nonsense, it’s glorious to see them grow bigger & louder each year…"

"Sure, people are still killed for being gay in a lot of countries, but straight people who don't fancy a quickie are being literally ignored to death, John. Is that what you want?" Rowling replied.

Rowling has always maintained that her anti-trans stances and posts aren't based in hate or bigotry, but in protecting women. She has yet to clarify if her anti-asexual posts are based on the same motivations.