JK Rowling

I guess you could say she has the courage of her bank account, but Rowling still has plenty at risk by standing up and speaking out.

Guess it's true what they say: you can lead a girl to books about the rise and fall of an autocrat, but you still can't make her think. pic.twitter.com/oB7Aq6Xz8M

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 1, 2017

Well, the fumes from the DVDs might be toxic and I've still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter. pic.twitter.com/kVoi8VGEoK

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 31, 2017

Chicago Tribune

Rowling is a dedicated progressive.

She's a strong believer in welfare, which she relied on during a particularly rough period in her life. As she said during a 2008 Harvard commencement speech, "An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless . . . By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew."

More recently, Rowling found herself in the midst of a Twitter battle surrounding Brexit, which she staunchly opposed.

Much of this now-seemingly-endless debate was absent during the height of the Harry Potter craze because she didn't publicly discuss her views until the publication of the final Harry Potter book. A year after it hit bookshelves, though, she gave 1 million pounds to Britain's Labor Party.

-and-

"Intolerance of alternative viewpoints is spreading to places that make me, a moderate and a liberal, most uncomfortable. Only last year, we saw an online petition to ban Donald Trump from entry to the U.K. It garnered half a million signatures," she said during the 2016 PEN America Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. "I find almost everything that Mr. Trump says objectionable. I consider him offensive and bigoted. But he has my full support to come to my country and be offensive and bigoted there. His freedom to speak protects my freedom to call him a bigot. His freedom guarantees mine."

I think what's important here is that "Liberals" who make it big are usually trying to reach back and help the next guy up as well.  "Conservatives" seem always to be trying to pull the ladder up after them.