Dave Chappelle defends JK Rowling in Netflix special over trans row and says he is 'Team TERF'

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By Nika Shakhnazarova

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Dave Chappelle has shown support for JK Rowling after weighing in on the writer's comments about the transgender community.

During his newly released standup special The Closer, the 48-year-old comedian said he "agrees" that "gender is a fact", as he discussed how the Harry Potter author had been branded a "TERF" (Trans-exclusionary radical feminist).

"Any of you who have ever watched me know that I have never had a problem with transgender people. If you listen to what I'm saying, clearly, my problem has always been with white people," Chappelle said, per NBC News.

"They canceled JK Rowling. My god," he told the crowd.

Chappelle continued: "Effectually she said gender was a fact, the trans community got mad as s**t, they started calling her a Terf.

"I'm Team TERF. I agree. I agree, man. Gender is a fact," he added.

The Half-Baked actor claimed he does not have any issue with the trans community, nor does he think "trans women aren't women".

He then made comments about trans women's genitals, saying: "Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact."

"I am just saying that those p****** that they got, you know what I mean?" he said, before adding: "I'm not saying it's not p****, but it's Beyond P**** or Impossible P*****. It tastes like p****, but that's not quite what it is, is it? That's not blood. That's beet juice," he added.

Chappelle also likened being trans to a white person pretending to be Black.

At the end of the special, Chapelle said he was done professionally joking about "LBGTQ, LMNOPQXYZ people."

Rowling came under fire after a tweet she posted last summer when she mocked the trans-inclusive term "people who menstruate".

The idea behind the term is that not all women have periods, for instance, trans women. And some men, as well as non-binary people, can have periods too.

However, Rowling took umbrage with the term on Twitter, sharing a link to an article that used it. She then implied that only cisgender women are able to menstruate.

She wrote: "'People who menstruate.' I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"

Naturally, in a world where trans people are being killed at alarming rates and are being discriminated against in various other ways, Rowling's flippant remark sparked outrage.

Featured image credit: Sipa US / Alamy