J.K. Rowling Mocks ‘Asexual Day’ as a ‘Fake Oppression Day’ to Tell ‘Complete Strangers They Don’t Fancy a Shag’

J.K. Rowling poked fun at “International Asexuality Day,” calling it a “fake oppression day” in which people can inform “complete strangers” that they “don’t fancy a shag.” The co-creator of the asexual day issue with the “Harry Potter” author, accusing her of “hijacking” the conversation.

“Happy International Fake Oppression Day to everyone who wants complete strangers to know they don’t fancy a shag,” Rowling quipped in a Sunday X post.

The author was replying to a virtual flyer that announced April 6 as “International Asexuality Day” and elaborated by declaring, “Asexuality is where a person experiences little to no sexual attraction.”

“Asexual people can form deep emotional connections and relationships but don’t experience sexual attraction in the same way as others,” the digital notice added.

One X user named John took to the comment section of Rowling’s post, writing, “As a gay man can someone tell me why straight people not wanting to get laid has ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME?!”

“I’m so grateful to have organizations like LGB Alliance in 2025 to push back against this nonsense, it’s glorious to see them grow bigger & louder each year…” John added.

The “Harry Potter” author replied to the X user, joking, “Sure, people are still killed for being gay in a lot of countries, but straight people who don’t fancy a quickie are being literally ignored to death, John. Is that what you want?”

“Actually you can be gay, straight or bi while also being asexual,” another X user chimed in, to which Rowling replied by asking, “How are you supposed to tell which you are if you don’t experience sexual attraction?”

“This is the problem with lumping everyone who isn’t straight into a ‘LGBTQ etc.’ category,” a third X user commented, adding, “If asexual people don’t want sex, good luck to them. But gay people quite like it, actually. So why am I and other gays thrown in a category with them? Makes no sense.”

Rowling replied to the X user, writing, “Refusing to accept that people who don’t like sex belong in the gay category is akin to wanting segregated bathrooms in the 1950s — as approximately a thousand gender activists will inform you once their hands stop literally shaking.”

Another X user opined, claiming “Some asexuals will be gay, on the occasions they can be bothered about sex at all!”

“Asexual just means they usually don’t want sexual involvement,” the X user added. “The question is why anyone else should be bothered about that! Especially the TQwerty lot.”

Rowling replied to that X user as well, inquiring, “How do asexual people know whether they’re gay or straight, I wonder?”

“Everything has its own day now, what will be next?” another X user asked, to which the author responded, “I want an International Bored Of This Shit day.”

“You’ll need a flag,” another X user surmised, to which Rowling replied by quipping, “I’m thinking a grey background to represent the tedium, and a pair of rolling eyes to express the exasperation.”

This exchange appeared to offend the co-creator of International Asexuality Day, Yasmin Benoit, who accused Rowling of “hijacking” the conversation around asexuality.

“A lot of people’s introduction [to International Asexuality Day] has now been through JK Rowling hating on it,” Benoit told PinkNews. “It’s becoming a conversation in so many spaces I haven’t seen before, but for a negative reason. She kind of hijacked the occasion.”

The International Asexuality Day co-creator went on to assert that since Rowling shared her X post, she has been receiving “ignorant” comments online.

“I’ve had people commenting saying that asexual people don’t exist, the asexual community doesn’t exist, but it’s like there’s literally a community of asexual people talking right now. Like, I don’t know what more I can tell you,” Benoit said.

“A lot of them are saying that it’s a mental disorder, some have even said it’s a side effect of SSRIs or that it’s part of the ‘trans agenda,'” she added. “That’s why a lot of my work has been centered on legislative protections for the asexual community, because this is the consequence of awareness.”

Benoit bizarrely added that “legislative protections for the asexual community” are necessary, citing a King’s College London study that revealed over 40 percent Brits believe people cannot identify as asexual if they have sex, while 26 percent think asexual people just haven’t met the right person yet, and 11 percent do not believe asexuality is a real thing.

“That’s why a lot of my work has been centered on legislative protections for the asexual community, because this is the consequence of awareness,” Benoit said. “I think it’s shown exactly why International Asexuality Day is needed and why asexual activism is needed.”

Benoit also accused her critics of being “acephobic,” referring to a phobia of people who identify as “ACE,” an abbreviation for “asexual” used among activists who, for some reason, have made it their mission to lecture the public about various sexualities.

“I think the influx of comments I’ve received really shows what acephobia looks like and that it is something that exists, because there’s a lot of people who don’t believe me when I talk about it,” Benoit said.

“There’s thousands of people who couldn’t have cared less about asexuality before,” she continued, adding that now people have decided, “Oh, so this is the next group we’re targeting.”

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.