Hachette U.K. has told its employees that they must continue to work on J.K. Rowling’s new book—even if they object to the author’s controversial comments on transgender people, the Independent reports.
The order from the publisher comes after a group of workers said they were considering stopping work on The Ickabog, Rowling’s forthcoming children’s book.
The employees objected to recent tweets by Rowling in which she suggested that people who support transgender rights believe that “sex isn’t real,” and a long essay in which she wrote, “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman—and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones—then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.”
In a statement, Hachette U.K. said that it was “proud” to publish Rowling’s next book, the Bookseller reports.
“We will never make our employees work on a book whose content they find upsetting for personal reasons, but we draw a distinction between that and refusing to work on a book because they disagree with an author’s views outside their writing, which runs contrary to our belief in free speech,” the publisher said.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
