‘Harry Potter’ Fan Sites Give The Cold Shoulder To Author J.K. Rowling Over Transgender Views
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Two big Harry Potter fan sites, unhappy over author J.K. Rowling’s views on transgender people, said today they will no longer provide links to her personal website, use photos of her, or write about her outside of her role in creating the fantasy world they love.
The sites, Leaky Caldron and Mugglenet, said in a joint statement that Rowling’s personal views are at odds with the attitudes reflected in her best-selling books. The sites combined have more than one million Facebook fans.
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Rowling was accused in the joint statement of putting forth “harmful and disproven beliefs about what it means to be a transgender person.” Her views on “marginalised people [are] out of step with the message of acceptance and empowerment we find in her books and celebrated by the Harry Potter community”.
Rowling issued a personal essay last month in an attempt to explain her beliefs on transgender rights. She asserted that certain demands by transgender activists were dangerous to women. The essay was widely criticized by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, who termed it transphobic.
The abandonment by the fan sites follows that by the stars of the Harry Potter films, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint, and Eddie Redmayne. Also, four authors quit Rowling’s literary agency after the company declined to issue a public statement supporting transgender rights.
“Our stance is firm: transgender women are women,” said the statement by the fan sites. “Transgender men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary. Intersex people exist and should not be forced to live in the binary. We stand with Harry Potter fans in these communities. While we don’t condone the mistreatment [Rowling] has received for airing her opinions about transgender people, we must reject her beliefs.”
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