JK Rowling joins Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie among 150 authors and academics in call to defend free speech

More than 150 academics and writers including the likes of JK Rowling, Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie have called for an end to 'cancel culture'.

Ms Rowling and Ms Atwood, the author of The Handmaid's Tale, have both signed the letter, despite being on opposing sides on trans issues recently.

The letter, published in Harper's calls for: "A culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk taking, and even mistakes," reports the Daily Mail.

Rowling sparked fury last month when she reacted to an online article titled: "Opinion: Creating a more equal post COVID-19 world for people who menstruate". 

She tweeted her 14.5 million followers: 'People who menstruate. I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?' 

On Sunday the author, who also goes by the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, said: 'Many, myself included, believe we are watching a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people, who are being set on a lifelong path of medicalisation that may result in the loss of their fertility and/or full sexual function.'

Margaret Atwood voiced her support for the trans community on Monday, tweeting: 'Biology doesn't deal in sealed Either/Or compartments. We're all part of a flowing Bell curve. Respect that! Rejoice in Nature's infinite variety!' 

Both authors, joined by the likes of Salman Rushdie, who was accused of blasphemy by the some members of the Muslim faith when his book The Satanic Verses was published in 1988, have supported an open letter published in Harper's Magazine. 

The letter opens by praising a 'moment of trial' cultural institutions face trial' in the midst of mass protests for racial and social justice, but warns open debate risks being weakened.