Oxfam has apologised over a Pride month “Terf” cartoon following a furious backlash on social media.
The anti-poverty charity was forced to remove a tweet—which included the colourful image—and deny it based one evil-looking animated character on author JK Rowling.
In the original animated clip, which appeared on the organisation’s website on Tuesday, three villains are seen pointing and sneering at a collection of rainbow-coloured figures.
The brunette female character is wearing a green dress and “Terf” badge—an acronym of “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist”—a view the Harry Potter writer has consistently denied having.
Critics said the depiction was strikingly similar to a well-known picture of Rowling at the 2018 world premiere of “Fantastic Beasts.”
Rowling was photographed at the star-studded Paris event in a green dress, with her hair tied back and wearing a poppy.
Social media users accused Oxfam of basing the cartoon character on the famous image, replacing Rowling’s poppy tribute with the “Terf” badge.
‘We Made a Mistake’
An Oxfam spokesperson said: “Oxfam believes that all people should be able to make decisions which affect their lives, enjoy their rights and live a life free of discrimination and violence, including people from LGBTQIA+ communities.“In efforts to make an important point about the real harm caused by transphobia, we made a mistake.”
“We have therefore edited the video to remove the term TERF and we are sorry for the offence it caused.”
The charity said there was “no intention” by IT, or the filmmakers of the animated clip, to have portrayed “any particular person or people.”
The statement added: “We fully support both an individual’s rights to hold their philosophical beliefs and a person’s right to have their identity respected, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics.”
The statement followed not only severe criticism from members of the public, but also from feminist groups and celebrities.
Retweeting the now-deleted Oxfam post, Women’s Rights Network (WRN) wrote: “Oxfam’s work is with some of the most vulnerable women in the world. It is in that context that the film they have produced for Pride 2023 is especially concerning.
“It is shockingly misogynistic in targeting women with sex realist beliefs and signalling approval of the removal of women’s breasts to meet gender ideological beliefs WRN condemns this misogyny.”
The group called on the charity to withdraw the film and “change the internal culture and processes that led it to be platformed.”
Replying to Oxfam’s tweet that it had removed the post “because of concerns raised with us,” Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies replied, “I will no longer be supporting your organisation.”
‘Misogynist Disgrace’
The post was defended by a number of LGBT activists including TV presenter India Willoughby who reposted the full film on Twitter.Willoughby wrote: “Here’s the Oxfam #Pride video the Gender Critical movement got removed. Please don’t share.”
Rowling has not yet publicly commented on the furore, however, the Harry Potter creator “liked” a number of tweets posted on Tuesday surrounding the image.
That included one post from a social media user who called the cartoon a “misogynist disgrace” and called for the Charity Commission to investigate.
Others called for Rowling to sue the charity over the image.
Rowling has repeatedly been branded transphobic over her views surrounding the gender-critical debate on social media.
In June 2020, the writer came under fire for a series of tweets she posted over an article that referenced “people who menstruate.”
She wrote on Twitter at the time: “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Her comments led to Harry Potter stars such as Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe speaking out against her views.
The author has been campaigning for women’s rights and female-only spaces amid safety fears predatory men could pose as trans women to use them.
The Oxfam controversy comes on the same day the charity was accused of hounding a volunteer for defending the writer.
A former worker—calling herself Maria—told Unherd she was accused of transphobia before Oxfam apologised for its handling of the process.
According to the website, Maria had come to the defence of Rowling in a discussion with colleagues over Oxfam’s intranet.
She had asked for evidence of Rowling’s supposed transphobia.
According to Unheard, Maria was subjected to a “gruelling internal investigation” over the remarks.
She was later found guilty by the charity of misconduct and was issued with a final warning.
According to Unherd, Oxfam told Maria that her comments online “breached the requirement of the Code of Conduct to treat all persons with respect and dignity,” and reminded her that “transgender people are protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.”
The letter did not give a definition of transphobia or say how her posts were transphobic, she told the website.
A subsequent appeal on the decision failed and the charity worker claimed constructive dismissal and belief discrimination, she said.
In July last year, during judicial mediation, both parties agreed to settle, with Oxfam issuing a public apology for its handling of the process, Maria said.
