Los Angeles, Mar 20 (IANS): "Harry Potter" actor Rupert Grint, who is known for his role of Ronald Weasley in the series, has spoken up against author JK Rowling's comment on transgender people.

Rowling, author of the "Harry Potter" books on which the film series is based, was criticised when she tweeted against transgender people. She used the phrase "people who menstruate" rather than "women".

In an interview with Esquire, Grint said: "I am hugely grateful (for) everything that she's done. I think that she's extremely talented, and I mean, clearly, her works are genius. But yeah, I think also you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that."

"Sometimes silence is even louder. I felt like I had to because I think it was important to. I mean, I don't want to talk about all that…Generally, I'm not an authority on the subject. Just out of kindness, and just respecting people. I think it's a valuable group that I think needs standing up for," he added in the interview, reports femalefirst.co.uk.