That’s it: this Friday February 10, Hogwarts Legacy is out. For months, the creators of this video game immersed in the Harry Potter universe have been very clear: the author of the saga, JK Rowling, he was not involved in the game’s creation.
And yet, from the topics it deals withOf boycott calls of which it is the object, but also because it highlights a world imagined by a writer accused of transphobia and anti-Semitism, Hogwarts Legacy it crystallizes many controversies surrounding JK Rowling.
Through an extensive summary of the past five years, to miss invites you to take stock an author he became spokesperson for a transphobic ideology.
Understanding the issue with JK Rowling in five key dates
March 19, 2018: JK Rowling ‘accidentally’ likes a transphobic tweet
It all started in March 2018 when JK Rowling liked a tweet whose author claimed to be a victim of misogyny in the British Parliament, unlike transgender women. The user then named them “men in robes”thus denying their gender identity.
Accused of transphobia, JK Rowling then defended herself by declaring that she did liked THE tweets by mistake, thinking he took a screenshot. The author stated that she was therefore looking for resources to learn about the gender studies.
December 19, 2019: JK Rowling lends public support to Maya Forstater, a transphobic woman
In 2019, JK Rowling went all out in affirming a transphobic ideology. On Twitter, the writer returned to the Maya Forstater case, a researcher she believed she was fired from an association that fights against precariousness because of her transphobic positions, displayed explicitly. JK Rowling had then given him public support in a tweets :
” Dress as you wish. Call yourself what you like. Sleep with any consenting adult. Live your best life in peace and security. But forcing women to quit their jobs to argue that sex is real? »
June 6, 2020: “Fame? We? Girls? “: JK Rowling posts transphobic tweets
In 2020, JK Rowling once again found herself at the center of a lively controversy, after reacting to an article titled “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstruate”. Ironically on this inclusive formula, which she accuses of making cis women invisible, JK Rowling then posted a new transphobic tweet:
“People who menstruate”. I’m sure we’ve had a word for these folks before. Somebody help me. Women? We? Girls?
In the process, the author had released a series of tweets denying the feelings and experiences of trans peopledeveloping a rhetoric deeply transphobicwhile claiming not to be:
“If sex is not a reality, then there is no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t a reality, then what women everywhere actually experience is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex robs many of the ability to truly discuss their experiences. Telling the truth is not hate speech.
The idea that women like me, who have empathized with trans people for decades, who feel connected to them because they share a vulnerability as women (vulnerability to male violence), “hate” trans people because they believe that sex is real and affects our lives… it’s nonsense.
I respect every trans person’s right to live their lives in the way that feels most genuine and comfortable for them. I would protest with you if you were discriminated against because of your trans identity. And at the same time, my life has been shaped by the fact that I’m a woman. I don’t think it’s “hateful” to say that. »
The publication of this row had led to talk about the stars of the franchise Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliff supported the community queer with a ticket posted on the Trevor Project website, an association in support of LGBTQI+ people.
March 5, 2022: JK Rowling opposes reform bill to support trans people in Scotland
In March 2022, JK Rowling once again addressed transgender people, this time campaigning against the advancement of their rights in Scotland. In response to a bill aimed at simplifying the gender change process in the registry offices brings of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the novelist took to Twitter, once again denying the gender identity of trans women :
“The law that Nicola Sturgeon is trying to pass in Scotland will harm society’s most vulnerable women: those seeking help after being raped or raped by men as well as women in prison.. Statistics show that female prisoners are already much more likely to have been abused. »
10 February 2023: Many boycott calls surround the release of Hoghwarts Legacy
When video game specialists call for a boycott
In a video with over two million views on social media, streamer and former video game studio employee Will Overgard invited his “friends and colleagues” TO “do not support” Hogwarts Legacy. This boycott call specifically implies not buying Hogwarts Legacy and do not stream or YouTube content while playing. “It’s not about whether this game has objectionable content, it’s about thinking that supporting this game somehow validates (JK Rowling’s) very, very dubious positions” explained the streamer, known as Viking blonde.
This call for a boycott is also topical in France. On Twitter, game culta French website specializing in video games has announced its refusal “to echo a brand whose economic and media weight benefits a woman erected as the figurehead of a hate movement. A woman whose activism aims to revoke the rights of trans people who are already consistently dehumanized. »
A heavily criticized transgender character
To make the game more inclusive, Hogwarts Legacy marks the arrival of the first transgender character in the Harry Potter universe. But, according to the first testimonies, the character of Sirona Ryan would be very little present and would occupy a secondary role in the adventure. She would also be a non-player character, so the player won’t be able to control her.
Public skepticism was also justified by the character’s name. On Twitter, journalist Laura Kate Dale, who specializes in the links between transgenderism and video games, accused the game’s creators of giving the character a stereotypical name:
” Lol. Obviously they gave the trans character a name starting with Gentleman and ends with a masculine noun of gender. Is that trope of naming conventions for trans characters in media. »
Harry Potter fans, but in the fight against transphobia? Lexie’s enlightening thoughts
Does buying and playing Hogwarts Legacy support JK Rowling? Is this tacitly validating a transphobic ideology? Should we give up an imaginary universe that has also helped us to build ourselves and stimulates us to fight against this discriminating and deadly ideology?
In an Instagram post, feminist and trans activist Lexie brought particularly rich and valuable answers faced with these complex issues related to the transidentityTO the influence of culture AND soft power of one most influential author in the world. While paying tribute to some feminist and progressive figures of the universe Harry PotterAS Hermione Granger, Tonk or LunaLexie explained:
“Feminist activists have managed to bring into the public space the idea that an artist cannot be dissociated from his creations and from the violent or discriminatory prejudices that his works spread.
JK Rowling shouldn’t be the exception because she’s a woman. About her Her transphobic ideas, her hetero-traditionalist vision of women, anti-Semitic hints, a reductive and racist construction of non-white characters, a supremacist system aided by political institutions … All that is also in his literary work, not just tweets to the side. »
Feature Image Credit: © BBC interview with JK Rowling
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
