Daniel Radcliffe: ‘If you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids’

Daniel Radcliffe has said “if you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids”.

On Wednesday (29 March), it was announced by the LGBTQ+ suicide prevention nonprofit The Trevor Project that the actor would serve as moderator of a discussion series involving transgender and nonbinary young people, titled Sharing Space.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, the Harry Potter star said: “We listen to so many people talk about trans youth and hear them talked about so often in the news, but very rarely do we actually hear from these youth directly.

“It was an absolute privilege to get to meet and listen to this incredible group of young people.”

The 33-year-old is a longtime supporter of the Trevor Project, having been honoured with the Trevor Hero Award in 2011 where he gave a passionate speech to LGBTQ+ people.

He continued: “At the end of the day, if you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids.”

Radcliffe features in the trailer for the first episode, which will be released on YouTube on Friday (31 March) to commemorate International Transgender Day of Visibility.

In it, he said: “There are some people in the world who are just not trying to engage in this conversation in any good faith.

“I think a lot of the time it’s just because people don’t know a young trans person so there’s just this, like, theoretical idea about this in their head.”

Radcliffe is a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. In 2020, he released a statement – via the Trevor Project – responding to Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s comments about transgender people.

“Transgender women are women,” he said at the time. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”

He said that as a supporter of the Trevor Project and as a “human being”, he felt ”compelled” to speak out on the subject.

Radcliffe added that his comments should not be interpreted as “in-fighting” between him and the author, noting that Rowling is “unquestionably responsible for the course” of his life.

Earlier this week, a representative for Radcliffe confirmed that he and his long-time girlfriend Erin Darke are expecting their frist baby together.