Unless you’ve literally been living in the cupboard under your stairs, you’ll be aware by now of JK Rowling’s tweets around the subject of transness and trans identity.
Sharing an article on Twitter about ‘people that menstrate’, she remarked: ”‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Following a backlash, Rowling shared further tweets explaining her belief that a person’s biological sex is unchangeable but that she also supports the fight of trans women.
“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth,” she said.
In another tweet, she said: “The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women - ie, to male violence - ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences - is a nonsense.”
Her comments have caused upset at the very heart of the Harry Potter fandom. Trans fans and trans allies have condemned her words.
Responses from trans Potter fans range from those who cannot hide their utter devastation to others using comedy to cope.
Transness is a complex issue, and entertainment personalities including Jonathan Ross at first came out in support of Jo’s comments, only to remove his support later and concede he is “not in a position to decide what is or isn’t considered transphobic.”
In a lengthy essay published on her website on 10 June this year, the author outlined her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues, and said her understanding of the conversations around transness began a few years ago.
But for trans Harry Potter fans that feel deeply upset by her comments, it’s integral to remember the old adage; ‘bad artists can make good art.’ This approach is backed by prominent creatives from the community, such as Teddy Lamb, a non-binary writer and performer.
“For me, you can separate the art from the artist if they’re financially separate too,” they say.
“I won’t be buying any new Harry Potter merchandise or paying to see any new films - but my memories remain and I won’t let her taint them. If my nephew wants to read the books one day, I’ll buy him copies from a charity shop so JK doesn’t get a cut.”
“My memories remain and I won’t let her taint them”
- Teddy Lamb, non-binary writer and performer
“My message would be to read trans and queer authors, raise our siblings up so that we can one day have a platform like hers, and use it more responsibly,” they added.
And some fans have been sharing similar messages of support on social media to help give distraught Potter fans a lift.
It’s an uncomfortable thought, but one that has been proof-tested by history, even for artists who have been accused of conduct going well beyond controversial tweets.
Picasso has been accused of misogyny and abuse, but in artistic terms his work is omnipresent and his imprint as a forefather of the Cubist movement is untarnished.
And more recently, Woody Allen - despite years of domestic sexual abuse claims, which he denies - remains a celebrated auteur filmmaker.
Even more recently, Michael Jackson was accused of child abuse - allegations denied by the Jackson estate - but his songs continue to be played on the radio.
So, if you dislike what Rowling said, remember that her fictional universe of creations exist separately to her. She may have written the characters, but they are set free now.
They exist not solely in her mind, but in the coffered walls of Hogwarts, along the cobbled stones of Diagon Alley and down the atmospheric corridors of the Ministry of Magic.
Once you open the books, or turn on the films, you, too, have traversed beyond the anonymous brick wall of Platform 9 and ¾ at King’s Cross. You too are back in the comforting and familiar world you were always within - a land JK Rowling has no control over anymore.
These are your stories - no one, and no opinion - can take them away from you.
It’s a statement backed by Harry Potter himself, actor Daniel Radcliffe, who in an impassioned personal letter to fans published on The Trevor Project’s website encouraged queer, questioning, gay, lesbian, trans and trans ally youth - and anyone else needing support - to remember that their relationships with Harry Potter is “sacred”.
“Transgender women are women,” he said. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.
“To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you.”
He continued: “I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you. If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred.”
Books and films are memory formers and create passions which can last a lifetime. Thirteen years after the final Potter novel was released in July 2007, the /HarryPotter fandom on Reddit still frequently has over 2,500 people on the ‘The Marauder’s Map’ (Potter slang for ’online viewers) at any one point in the day.
In these digital threads, and after the lockdown, in real-life meet-ups between Quidditch teams and at fan conventions, Harry Potter lives on.