notes on a celebrity: jk rowling is so hateful

I am old enough that I have been many versions of myself, and though I don’t personally feel that I have changed drastically, there are some material things about me that certainly have. Namely, how I feel about Harry Potter.

If you knew me between the ages of 14 and 26ish, you probably associate me with Harry Potter. I was mocked in high school, even by adult women, like the time a lady walked by my friends and I posted up for hours before a Harry Potter movie and scoffed, ‘get a life,’ which I thought was so rude then, but hilarious now.

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the original run of Harry Potter. I cannot and will not pretend those books shaped me and, corny as it is, saved me. I moved mid-freshman year of high school and was deeply, stubbornly unwilling to make friends because I was so pissed off that we had to move again, at the precipice of what I’d been told would be the best four years of my life. I spent what should have been an embarrassing amount of time in school bathrooms, libraries, and my own bedroom after skipping class to read Harry Potter instead. I am not the person to rewrite history and act like there aren’t scenes and lines in that series that still impact me.

However, another thing that defines me is who I was from 2009-202…???? and that is a person who Spent A Lot of Time on Twitter. So did JK Rowling, which at first delighted me because on the first version of my “things to do before you die” list, “ask Rowling, ‘why Fred?’" was prominently featured. But it soon became clear that beloved, famous people on social media like us normies were not the move. Everyone started showing their whole ass, and as much as everyone wants to pretend the internet doesn’t count as real life, it fucking does. And if your favorite writer says she hates trans people, that’s real life. You have to treat it as such.

It became quite clear that Rowling is not a passive person who has some questionable feelings about trans women; she is an evil and powerful woman who is using her billions to fund organizations and political movements. When you consume Harry Potter content, like buying new versions of her books, watching new versions of the stories, buying Oreo-branded Harry Potter flavors or whatever, you actually are harming trans people. It’s not just an opinion; she is using the money you spend on those cookies to make life harder for trans people.

And that fucking sucks. There is a difference between a creator with shitty opinions and a creator with power and shitty opinions.

I hope I can and want to embrace reading my original Harry Potter books again one day, but right now, every single reference makes me cringe as I think of my beloved trans and queer friends, and their children, and all of the children.

My love of Harry Potter could never, ever compare to my love of trans people and their rights.

I realize a lot of people who aren't as plugged in might not realize how harmful she is. I hope this helps.

xoxo