JK Rowling directly uses her money and fame to boost active hate groups that lobby for the extermination of transgender people from society. She actively wines and dines with fascists who don paper masks with her face as a symbol against the trans menace during their protests.
This includes supporting people like Matt Walsh, who advocates for the murder of doctors that give trans affirming care, Posie Parker, who repeatedly dehumanize and attack trans women, Maya Forstater, who sued a company for not renewing her contract after she created a hostile work environment for trans co-workers, and more.
She’s been cited in political hearings as anti-trans laws are pushed through and she’s actively fought against Scotland’s self-ID law which is now becoming a historical moment as the UK government have decided to block it – all thanks to Rowling and the people she befriends and support.
Similarly, she used her influence to push back against banning conversion therapy for trans people. A method of abuse that leads to trans people of all ages to develop trauma and often result in self-harm or suicide. She won on this, as the UK ended up only banning conversion therapy relating to sexuality, not being trans.
This in addition to her equivocating trans women (and allies) to rapists on social media and on her blog. As recent as last month she did this. She uses the fact that she was abused by cis men in the past as an excuse for why she have to treat trans women this way.
Late last year she sicked her 14 million followers on Twitter after Jessie Earl, a trans woman, spoke about the video game Hogwarts Legacy and how she wish people wouldn’t buy it. Leading to Jessie having to spend the Christmas holidays dealing with rampant hate from Rowling’s cabal – which remains ongoing even now.
She was also asked last year how she can sleep well at night knowing that she’s hurting so many people directly, including those who were fans of her work for over twenty years. Her reply was that she just has to look at her most recent check for royalties from the Harry Potter brand to sleep well.
Every single time you buy a Harry Potter product, you are putting money in this woman’s pocket. Every time you partake in the fandom actively on social media or in public, you are validating the fact that she can do this and remain a successful author with a successful franchise.
But honestly, that’s not what we think is the worst part. Because she’s already a millionaire and it’s already one of the highest grossing media franchises ever created.
No, what we find the worst is that it signals that your love for a piece of fiction and potentially an author is more important to you than making an inactive effort to not validate someone who is arguably pushing the world towards genocide.
So, let’s respond to the common arguments trans people hear when pointing this out.
“Hogwarts Legacy lets you be trans!”
It has a binary gender choice, they just call it “do you want to stay in the witch or wizard’s dorm” and while body type and voice isn’t locked to either, pronouns and language in general is. Even Call of Duty has more trans inclusivity.
“But there’s even a transgender character in the game!”
Said trans woman is named Sirona Ryan. Which people have been quick to note is basically Sir Ryan, on top of a Siren being a wicked creature that seduces men as a trap to prey on them.
“But what about the developers?”
The devs had salaries, they have already been paid and many of them have likely already been let go and will continue to do so no matter if the game is successful or not, because that’s how AAA game development works. Hire at start, cut down at end.
“But the studio might not get more work.”
It’s the studio that survived Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, if Hogwarts Legacy doing slightly less well than projected was gonna shut them down then they were already heading there.
“JK Rowling isn’t involved in the game though.”
She doesn’t have to be directly involved because it’s literally based on her work and the influence she has had on said work. This includes its poor takes on systemic injustices and minorities.
“But the content in the game looks fine.”
A key part of the story is about stopping a goblin uprising, which involves at least one primary antagonist goblin that attempts to kidnap the player character, a child. Given the anti-Semitic nature of goblins in the series… Yeah.
“But the developers probably didn’t intend it that way.”
Well, then you don’t get to claim “death of the author” elsewhere. But just for reference, for most of the game’s development it had a Gamer Gate conspiracy theorist as creative lead.
“But the Gamer Gate dude was let go.”
Yeah, after it caused headlines. As has been confirmed since then, Warner Bros knew about his videos full of bigotry and hatred before hiring him and even told him he could keep the videos up.
“JK Rowling is a millionaire so what will my money even matter?”
Personal principles should matter to everyone. Not being part in directly helping fund hatred, no matter if it gets funded without you, should be a pretty low standard to hold to.
“What if I just pirate it?”
Then you’re still helping maintain the validity of the franchise and telling Warner Bros to keep at it as a result, not to mention the shit we already told you about that’s in the game and is incredibly problematic.
“But I really want to play it.”
Then do so. But don’t whine about people judging you for clearly disregarding so many vital things just for the sake of a video game. Be honest, embrace that you just don’t fucking care and leave people alone instead of seeking justification.
It should not be too much to ask that you simply don’t play a video game. It’s not even an active stance or doing something in solidarity to push back against anti-trans hatred. It’s in inaction, the lack of doing something. It’s less than the bare minimum.
And if you for some reason feel the need to explain to us that you’ve been “wanting a game like this since you were a child” then let us be perfectly clear. We grew up reading the Harry Potter books, watching the Harry Potter movies, playing the Harry Potter games and even collecting the Harry Potter trading card game.
Despite this we’ve spent most of the past decade not partaking in anything Harry Potter, long before Rowling fully unmasked her horrible anti-trans agenda. If we can do that and you can’t even do it after she’s become far more harmful then you’re the active problem there, not you having childhood nostalgia.
We would like to say thank you to those who help support us financially.
Jos Luce Queen hikari no yume TB Bean Miss Nixie
Michael Rosenbloom Benjamin Schmitt Hayley Question-Mark
Jacob Springwood Shawn Pedersen Spiderrebelnews
SadGayMusic Kit Stubbs RumRay raine The Clayote
Moto Alan C. Ahmed G. Taru T. Dale R. Beck
Rebecka L. RB Bekbelle Dominik V. Simon L.
If you want to support us, giving just a single dollar on Patreon, Ko-fi or Paypal puts you in our credits and you have our thanks.
Recommended additional viewing regarding JK Rowling, Hogwarts Legacy and Harry Potter as a whole…
Andrea Ritsu 