Richard Dawkins, a prominent British evolutionary biologist, defended author J.K. Rowling on Monday amid backlash for her feminist critique of the transgender movement.
Joining "Piers Morgan Uncensored" on TalkTV, Dawkins accused leftists of bullying Rowling, who created Harry Potter, and lesbian philosopher Kathleen Stock for speaking out about gender.
"It's bullying," Dawkins said. "We've seen the way J.K. Rowling has been bullied, Kathleen Stock has been bullied. They've stood up to it, but it's very upsetting the way this tiny minority of people has managed to capture the discourse to talk errant nonsense."
Dawkins, a notable atheist activist, also said he was uninterested in talks about an undetermined number of genders.
"As a biologist, there are two sexes, and that's all there is to it," he said, while acknowledging that a debate can still be had about sex and gender being different concepts.
Dawkins later commented on the state of Western universities and colleges, saying that "they have bought into the idea that if you don't like what you think you're going to hear from someone, you should shut them up."
"They want to feel safe, and university is the one place you should not feel safe," Dawkins said. "You want to be physically safe, but intellectually, you should be challenged."
Dawkins' comments came amid ongoing public backlash to Rowling, Stock, and other similar feminists who have been skeptical of the LGBTQ movement's intrusion into women's spaces.
"If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives," Rowling tweeted in 2020. "It isn't hate to speak the truth."
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