"I don't have time for anyone who is being so destructive."
Such is Peppermint's response to J.K. Rowling after the author doubled down on transphobic tweets with a blog post defending her remarks and labeling transgender activists as "hostile and alienating." Though the advocate, performer and RuPaul's Drag Race alum tells ET she would be willing to have a conversation with Rowling, she doesn't believe Rowling is capable of seeing the disservice her words have done.
"J.K. Rowling is a writer, someone who knows how to use language and the pen," Peppermint told Denny Directo while co-hosting Friday's ET Live @ Home. "Every single post, every single tweet comes off as innocent and unassuming, but it's extremely calculated. J.K. knows exactly what she's trying to say and knows exactly what she's trying to do. And now we know exactly who she is."
"What I won't allow her to do is to insert her ignorance on this situation," she added, noting Rowling's willingness to voice her "archaic and ignorant ideas" about the transgender community -- "her insistence upon relegating trans people to our body parts" – while remaining silent about the Black Lives Matter movement.
"Her tweeting about trans people and trying to tell us who we are and her lack of contribution to the Black Lives Matter conversation just shows her relationship to white supremacy," Peppermint concluded.
Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, as well as Fantastic Beasts actor Eddie Redmayne, have all since spoken out against Rowling's comments, with the latter affirming, "Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid."
"I applaud them for speaking out," Peppermint said. "We're happy to have you speaking out and contributing to the conversation in a positive way."
As for herself, Peppermint is speaking out more than ever, including with Black Queer Town Hall, a Pride initiative co-hosted by Bob the Drag Queen that will feature performances and roundtables discussing dismantling racism and ending police brutality.
One person who has been noticeably silent regarding Black Lives Matter, however, is RuPaul himself. Peppermint's feelings on why RuPaul has thus far not spoken out following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor or amid global protests is a conversation which requires nuance.
"I highly respect RuPaul and I think that Ru and the show, Drag Race, have been one of a kind," Peppermint prefaced, before diplomatically explaining, "There have been lots of opportunities for us to have conversations, in general, and I think it's important that everyone is constantly contributing to that conversation.
"There are some people that I think we are waiting to hear from and I'm hopeful that whenever they do speak out, they will deliver messages that will help this movement along," she continued. "I don't want anyone to feel like their voice doesn't matter in this conversation, and I also want everyone to know that their voices are essential in this conversation. So, we're waiting."
But in the meantime, Peppermint will be out there, using her platform to fight the good fight. "And luckily for them, when I'm marching for black lives, I'm marching for every single black person, even those that aren't speaking out," she said. "And I guess you're going to benefit from that, so you know, enjoy."
Black Queer Town Hall is streaming on YouTube from June 19 - 21.
RELATED CONTENT:
