Why I stand by my decision to never cite Harry Potter as a literary influence.
Several years ago, I wrote a blog post about my relationship with the Harry Potter books and their author.
I explained that, despite reading the books as a kid, and despite them inspiring me to read and write, I did not consider them a literary influence for my own work. I chalked up this reason to the transphobic remarks the author had made and how those remarks were weaponized to justify oppression against transgender people.
Well, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and her bigotry has only gotten worse. Much worse!
At this point, I don’t need to go into detail about She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and her descent into the whirlpool of anti-trans bigotry. Contrapoints on Youtube has made two videos (here and here) on the subject.
I also don’t need to go into detail about the Harry Potter books and how many elements have not aged well, especially considering their author’s unmasked bigotry. Shaun on YouTube likewise made an excellent video on the subject.
Since my original blog post, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has made friends with plenty of other “gender critical” (read: anti-trans) activists. Such “lovely” folks include Lisa Morgan (who quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech at an anti-trans rally), Posie Parker (who recommended that armed men patrol women’s bathrooms in search of trans people using them), and Helen Joyce (a gender critical author who said she wanted to “reduce” the number of trans people).
Other notable offenses include praising “theocratic fascist” Matt Walsh and his anti-trans documentary “What is a Woman?”, liking and sharing tweets from Libs of TikTok, a Twitter account infamous for inspiring threats against children’s hospitals, and “accidentally” sending transphobic profanity to a nine-year-old girl.
I would go on, but for this post, I want to share two recent examples of her open contempt for queer people which, not only cemented my decision to never cite her or her work as a literary influence, but also made me ashamed of ever liking (or even reading) her work to begin with.
On Apr. 6, during International Asexuality Day, she posted the following tweet: “Happy International Fake Oppression Day to everyone who wants complete strangers to know they don’t fancy a shag.”
Not surprising that her bigotry has been expanded to other queer identities like asexuals, which she apparently thinks doesn’t exist. (And yet if they don’t exist, why is she so upset over them? You can’t be mad at something that doesn’t exist!)
But perhaps her lowest blow came following a recent low blow for trans rights in her home country. On Wednesday, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that transgender women cannot legally be recognized as women. (Side note: am I a stupid American for not knowing the UK had a Supreme Court?)
In other words, the UK Supreme Court ruled that trans women are not women. This ruling would essentially remove any legal protections trans women and other trans people have under UK law.
The ruling was made over a court case pushed forward by anti-trans group For Women Scotland. And guess who’s reportedly a financial backer of that group? And guess who celebrated its victory?
Following the ruling, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tweeted a photo of herself with a cup of champagne and cigar with the caption, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Hey! Remember when she posted a tweet claiming that she told trans people she would march with “if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans”? Well, they’re being discriminated against, and she’s smoking a stogie over it.
Her recent words and actions made me so infuriated that I have made the conscious decision to remove my Harry Potter books from my bookcase and my Harry Potter movies from my DVD shelf. I don’t have the heart to throw them away. But I also don’t feel comfortably proudly displaying them in my house.
I said this in my original post, and I’m repeating it here. This is not about her making a few off-color remarks about trans people. This is about doubling down on her transphobia to the point where she is openly advocating against the rights of trans people, and where her opinions are being used to oppress and discriminate against trans people.
I follow many content creators who are trans. I have many on-line friends and colleagues who are trans. And even if I didn’t, that wouldn’t stop me from caring about the well-being of trans people. And I cannot call myself an ally of theirs while also being a fan of an author who opposes their right to exist.
Harry Potter may have meant something to me as a kid, but I do not need it as an adult. Not when many other fantasy stories like Narnia and Lord of the Rings have proven to be bigger influences for my works. And not when there is a plethora of other fantasy stories to enjoy—none of which are written by transphobes.
Trans rights are human rights.
J.C. Alexandre 