Confession: I never liked “Harry Potter.”
I just never got into it. I read the first four books in elementary school, but I got so overwhelmingly bored reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” that I stopped before the second chapter.
I lost all interest in trying to get into “Harry Potter” as I learned more about J.K. Rowling’s views.
On June 10, 2020, J.K. Rowling wrote a blog post trying to dispel the idea that she was transphobic.
In doing so, she just reinforced the fact she was.
The essay reads near the end, “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.”
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is a hugely popular transphobic dog whistle.
No one is going to change their gender identity based on their desire to see women pee or shower.
Also, assholes aren’t waiting for that magical legal loophole in order to harass women.
CNN reached out to 20 law enforcement agencies in states with anti-discrimination laws that cover gender identity. All reported no bathroom assaults after the laws took place, according to a March 7, 2017 article.
But, 70% of trans and gender-nonconforming Americans reported being denied access to, harassed or physically assaulted in public restrooms, according to the same article.
Comments like these only serve to endanger trans women, when we should be protecting them.
Transgender people are almost four times more likely to be victimized, according to a March 23, 2021 article by the UCLA Williams Institute.
The Williams Institute is the leading research center on gender and sexuality law and public policy according to its website.
This idea is also used in order to bar trans women from being included in women’s space. Which is crazy because trans women
are women.
Rowling can’t seem to move on from the myth that trans women are violent predators.
Her 2020 detective novel “Troubled Blood,” penned under the name Robert Galbraith, is described as “a book whose moral seems to be: never trust a man in a dress,” in a Sept. 13, 2020 review by The Telegraph.
She also said “we are watching a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people,” in a July 5, 2020 Twitter post seemingly referring to gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy.
As a young gay person, all I can say is: no it fucking isn’t.
Transgender people have to jump through so many goddamn hoops before they often can get access to hormonal
replacement therapy.
In the U.K., it can take literal years to even get one’s first appointment to discuss hormone replacement therapy, according to genderconstructionkit.org, a website described as “the UK guide to changing things linked
to gender.”
As of Jan. 21, the wait time for an appointment in Newcastle, England is almost 8 and a
half years.
So of-fucking-course transgender people are being rushed into hormone
replacement therapy.
Some may argue that, since Rowling was not directly involved in the game, you can separate the art from the artist.
This is only partially correct.
According to the Hogwarts Legacy website, Rowling “was not involved in the creation of
the game.”
But even without her direct involvement, Rowling will still make money off of this game.
How? Royalties.
Royalty payments are negotiated once and then paid by licensees to the owner of the license.
Often these payments are structured as a percentage of gross or net revenues, according to the finance automation
company Tipalti.
Simply put, every copy of Hogwarts Legacy (and piece of “Harry Potter” merch) sold, is money in Rowling’s pocket.
She takes continued support of “Harry Potter” as a sign of people agreeing with her.
When asked on Twitter how Rowling sleeps at night knowing she has lost so many fans, she responded “I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly,” in a Oct. 13, 2022 Tweet.
Despite calls for the game to be boycotted, it is the best selling game this week on Steam,
as of writing.
Knowing this about Rowling, how can anyone who calls themselves a trans ally
play this game?
If one can’t stand the inconvenience of not spending $60 to play a video game, which directly benefits a transphobe, they aren’t actually an ally:
they’re a poser.
I’m not telling everyone to stop loving their beloved childhood book series, but I am telling everyone they should stop spending money on it.
