• JK Rowling returned an award after the organization who bestowed it said her earlier remarks this year were transphobic.
• The author released a statement after she gave back the award, containing similar rhetoric to her previous essay on gender and trans people. 
• In it, Rowling strongly advocates against transgender youth having easy access to gender-affirming care like hormones, which goes against medical best practices. 
• "Gender-affirming health care saves lives," Shawn Meerkamper and Dale Melchert, senior staff attorney and staff attorney for the Transgender Law Center, told Insider for a previous story. 
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

J.K. Rowling was given the Ripple of Hope Award by the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organization for her work as a literary figure in 2019.

Just a year later, the author is now returning the human rights organization's award after the head of it publicly criticized Rowling for the essay she released in June of this year which many said was transphobic.

"Trans rights are human rights. J.K. Rowling's attacks upon the transgender community are inconsistent with the fundamental beliefs and values of RFK Human Rights and represent a repudiation of my father's vision," Kerry Kennedy, president of the organization, wrote. "Women's rights are not degraded by the recognition of trans rights. On the contrary: A commitment to human rights demands a commitment to combat discrimination in all its forms."

Rowling released a statement explaining why she is returning the award, in which she repeated many of the so-called  "T.E.R.F." statements she made in June, including a since-debunked argument that an "explosion" of young women are de-transitioning.

"RFKHR has stated that there is no conflict between the current radical trans rights movement and the rights of women," Rowling wrote. "The thousands of women who've got in touch with me disagree, and, like me, believe this clash of rights can only be resolved if more nuance is permitted in the debate."

Rowling's statements that transgender youth, in particular, should have less access to transitionary care because they may come to regret their decision later in life directly contradicts physician best care practices for handling gender dysphoria. 

Studies have shown that transgender youth who are able to live as the gender they are rather than the one they are assigned, have access to gender-affirming care like hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and hormone blockers have lower rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide than those denied access.

"Gender-affirming health care saves lives," Shawn Meerkamper and Dale Melchert, senior staff attorney and staff attorney for the Transgender Law Center, told Insider for a previous story.

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