Miriam Margolyes declines to shun JKR.

The actress who played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films has offered sympathy to JK Rowling over accusations of transphobia.

…

Younger Potter stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, the three principals, all distanced themselves from Rowling after she expressed her views on the importance of biological sex.

Being the clueless ungrateful young toads they are.

“There isn’t one answer to all these trans questions,” [MM] told Radio Times. “We all know people who are slightly pansy or a bit butch or whatever you call it. But I think the vituperation that JK Rowling has received is misplaced. I don’t know her at all. I admire her as a human being. She’s a generous woman, she’s a brilliant writer.”

Margolyes, 80, responded to the suggestion that she could broker an understanding between Rowling and Watson: “I would if anybody asked me.”

Rowling, who denies being transphobic, was not selected for an official Platinum Jubilee reading list announced on Sunday despite being Britain’s most successful living author.

Well, to be fair, “successful” [in terms of sales] really isn’t the only relevant criterion for an author.

Margolyes, who published her memoir This Much is True in September, also spoke out against Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, who has announced cuts for the BBC and a plan to privatise Channel 4. “It’s inconceivable to me that a woman of limited intelligence can be given such a vital role,” Margolyes said. “She doesn’t know anything about anything.”

I like her.