Cisgender adults: it’s past time we let Harry Potter go
This is less of an organized post and more of a brief rant. Folks, it’s time for us to Harry Potter go. It’s been time for months now.
Unless you’ve totally been avoiding social media this year (and who can blame you), you probably already know that J.K. Rowling recently made her transphobic views unavoidably clear. I’m not going to link to her essay — which was published in June — for obvious reasons, but you can easily find it online. While people had suspected she held these opinions for some time, the essay was the breaking point for many. People who’d been fans of Harry Potter for years asked: what now? Some have put their love for the series aside, while others simply suggested separate the art from the artist. How do we do that, though, when the “artist” is still alive and making money from her art? When she’s actively doing harm?
This discussion has been renewed amid the anticipation of Hogwarts Legacy: the open-world Harry Potter game that fans have been wanted for like, um, a decade.
But wait. Since June, Rowling has done nothing but double down on her comments. I have to wonder what kind of message I would be sending to my trans friends if I bought and played it. I wonder, too, what kind of message I would be sending if I continued to buy any Harry Potter-related merch or openly celebrated the series in any way. So, I’m not going to. And you probably shouldn’t, either.
In discussions with cis friends and acquaintances, one excuse has often come up: “It was important to my childhood.” I understand, because it was important to mine, too. I’m not saying everyone has to toss out the books they already own (though if you feel like it, by all means, go ahead). However, it’s possible to have good memories of something while acknowledging that 1) time changes things and 2) your nostalgia doesn’t trump the humanity of others.
STOP IT! You’re making yourself sound like a total jerk. Please stop.
