In recent years, Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has stirred up numerous controversies with
remarks she’s made regarding the trans community.
The author has only doubled down on the comments in the wake of these controversies, and it’s
gotten to the point where many fans want her removed from the franchise.
Join Trender as we explore why JK Rowling is never coming back after this.
Recently, multiple websites dedicated to the Harry Potter fandom have made moves to distance
themselves from series creator JK Rowling.
It was a long time coming, as JK Rowling had been making disparaging remarks about the
trans community for a while before the decision was made.
As JK continued to double down on her remarks, various figureheads in the fan community decided
that enough was enough.
Given that the Harry Potter fan community consists of numerous trans individuals, the
move only made sense.
While the websites could make the choice to simply cease to exist, they are intending
to go on sharing news about the Harry Potter franchise with minimal mention of the person
that created it.
Necessary mentions of the author will include trigger phrases that can be easily blocked
by sensitive individuals, and most will do their best to act as if JK Rowling was never
really involved in the franchise’s origin.
Despite the immense controversy that JK Rowling has begun receiving, the Harry Potter franchise
remains profitable.
Ongoing spin-off film series such as Fantastic Beasts still show promise for Warner Bros.
However, the issue has arisen whether or not JK Rowling will continue to be involved in
the franchise, and to what capacity.
In the wake of rumors in 2021 that a Harry Potter series might be coming to HBO Max,
the general fan consensus wasn't excitement but rather outrage that JK was going to get
even more money.
The secret to the Harry Potter franchise’s success is its immense base of fans, and a
majority of those fans seem to have turned on creator JK Rowling.
The series has proven so influential that “quidditch”, the fictional sport that
its titular character plays, was made real by fans.
However, in the wake of JK’s new controversy, the newly established real-life sport is looking
to change its name and sever ties with both JK Rowling and the Harry Potter franchise
in general.
The real-life sport of quidditch has become particularly popular with those existing within
both the Harry Potter fandom and the trans community.
The sport is known to be exceptionally inclusive when it comes to gender and has taken on a
life of its own due to the fact that there is so much freedom for trans members to become
involved.
Similarly, the Harry Potter franchise and its story have come to mean a lot to both
trans and trans-accepting readers.
Many have viewed the story of the Harry Potter series as having a message about inclusivity
and acceptance, and they feel that JK Rowling’s recent remarks about the trans community are
in direct defiance of many of the values that the series she created seems to espouse.
Because of this, removing the author from the franchise at this point in time makes
sense to them.
Ironically, JK Rowling first became a controversial figure for being considered too woke.
Well over a decade ago, JK Rowling came under fire for claiming that she had written the
character of Dumbledore into the Harry Potter series with the intention of him being gay.
She later went on to falsely assert that the venerated elder wizard’s homosexuality would
be explored in the film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
JK Rowling’s claims that she had written Dumbledore as gay rubbed many fans the wrong
way, as they assumed that the author was trying to appeal to the new woke generation by retroactively
changing the Harry Potter series.
Before this incident, JK Rowling had been a figure essentially free from controversy.
Years later, in 2015, she came under fire once more for defending a creative choice
to cast an African-American actress in the role of Hermione in the play Harry Potter
and the Cursed Child.
Though the character of Hermione is never given a race in the book series, white actress
Emma Watson plays her in the films.
Many felt that JK Rowling was trying to pander to an assumedly woke audience with her retroactive
decisions to make Hermione African-American and Dumbledore gay.
At the time, JK Rowling considered herself fairly progressive, and she still considers
herself a feminist.
However, she simply doesn’t believe that trans women are women.
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The issue regarding JK Rowling and her numerous comments regarding the trans community has
been going on for years.
The author has been labeled a “TERF”, which is an acronym standing for “trans-exclusionary
radical feminist”.
Although JK Rowling claims that she is not prejudiced against trans people whatsoever,
she has chosen to ironically embrace the acronym.
In addition to a variety of Tweets drawing attention to her belief that trans women aren’t
women, JK Rowling also received controversy in the wake of the release of her 2020 book
Trouble Blood.
The book is about a cis male character that dresses up as a woman in order to prey on
his victims.
It’s not hard to see the book as an anti-trans allegory.
Not only have many fans turned their backs on JK Rowling, but the main stars of the Harry
Potter film series have, as well.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have all come out with separate statements
on social media disparaging JK Rowling’s belief that trans women aren’t real women.
According to them, JK’s remarks are not only negatively affecting the trans community,
but are also negatively affecting many Harry Potter fans.
Daniel Radcliffe expressed that JK Rowling should leave the matter of gender up to the
experts, while Emma Watson felt that there was no reason for the author to be saying
things that might potentially hurt a group of people that are already at risk.
Rupert Grint didn’t have much to add, simply stating that he felt that trans women were
real women.
Besides the three main kids from the series, the actress that played Ginny Weasley has
also spoken out against JK’s remarks regarding the trans community.
Eddie Redmayne is a more recent addition to the ensemble of the Harry Potter franchise,
and he has taken particular ire with JK’s remarks due to the fact that he played a trans
woman previously.
Though all of these stars have made attempts to distance themselves from JK Rowling while
still remaining involved in the Harry Potter franchise, JK has found an ally in actor Robbie
Coltrane.
Robbie Coltrane played the character of Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, and he has also
appeared in such films as GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough.
According to Robbie Coltrane, he doesn’t understand what the big controversy is about
what JK has been saying.
Robbie Coltrane is a cis man, so he hasn’t been that powerful of an ally for JK.
However, JK has also received vocal support from comedian Eddie Izzard.
Eddie recently came out as trans himself, and he expressed that he feels personally
that JK Rowling doesn’t have disparaging feelings about the trans community.
JK has shared that she has many friends in the trans community, and claims that there
are many trans individuals that she has a massive amount of respect for.
Her concern is there being no distinction between trans women and those who were born
women.
JK Rowling has also received support from fellow controversial figure Dave Chappelle.
The two don’t have all that much to gain by supporting each other, and it’s hard
to tell if the association has done anything to help either of their reputations.
However, the two seem to both be intent on sticking to their guns in the wake of their
controversies.
Dave Chappelle came out in support of JK after having a similar history of making derogatory
remarks regarding the trans community.
Like JK, Dave first disparaged the community years back and has only doubled down in the
time since.
His support of JK was seen as further doubling down, and the Netflix special in which he
supported JK caused more controversy for the comedian than ever.
Besides people taking issue with JK Rowling’s remarks regarding gender, there are also other
controversies being lobbed at the author.
Comedian Jon Stewart has recently drawn attention to the fact that he feels the goblins in the
Harry Potter universe are negative Jewish stereotypes.
The comparison had been made previously by Pete Davidson during a sketch on Saturday
Night Live, though Jon Stewart made the idea receive more notoriety than ever before.
Now, fans are having a hard time looking at the goblins in the Harry Potter franchise
without seeing a negative Jewish stereotype.
This is just one of the numerous problematic aspects that have been retroactively pinned
upon the Harry Potter franchise in the wake of JK Rowling’s recent comments regarding
the trans community.
A reunion special for the franchise recently premiered on HBO Max, with it being titled
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.
Though the special is two hours long, it only contains around 30 seconds of JK Rowling.
Though JK Rowling will always technically be the creator of the Harry Potter franchise,
more and more people are actively distancing themselves from the formerly esteemed author
due to her supposedly transphobic beliefs.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that numerous websites dedicated to the
Harry Potter fandom have officially distanced themselves from series creator JK Rowling,
and did you know that the trans community saw her most recent book as a transphobic
allegory?
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