Civics: British Newspaper Cancels ‘Person Of The Year’ Poll After J.K. Rowling Runs Away With Top Spot

Megan Basham:

Readers of the British newspaper, The Guardian, are accusing the outlet of deactivating an online poll that asked readers to vote on “Person of the Year” after it became apparent that J.K. Rowling would handily win.

“Tell us: who is your 2021 person of the year?” ran the headline, posted on Dec. 15, with the subtitle, “Time Magazine chose billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk – but who would be your choice?” A short time later, when Rowling was far and away in the lead, the voting form disappeared, as did the results. A message in small print stated, “This form has been deactivated and is closed to any further submissions.”

Rowling has been at the center of numerous cancel culture storms this year for her refusal to deny the reality of biological sex. Earlier this month she stirred up controversy by mocking Scotland’s law enforcement policy that allows accused rapists to self-identify as female. “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman,” she tweeted in reference to an article titled, “Absurdity’ of police logging rapists as women.”

As The Daily Wire previously reported, trans activists have retaliated against her refusal to capitulate to their agenda by threatening to send her pipe bombs and publishing her home address on social media. Showing the flair for dark humor that runs through her novels, the world’s richest author wryly joked that she’s received “so many death threats [she] could paper the house.”

The Guardian, which is generally known for being left-of-center, has so far provided no explanation for why it took its poll offline with Rowling firmly in the lead. But that didn’t stop the public from taking to social media to share their suspicions.