Annalisa Castrogiovanni '23
On February 10, 2023 the much anticipated video game Hogwarts Legacy was released to the public. Although the creators of this game had no association with J.K. Rowling in the making of the video game, people are still upset that someone with such a controversial past will profit off the video game.
The Harry Potter franchise has been a comfort series for many people in the past. However, in recent years the actions of the creator J.K. Rowling has upset members of the LGBTQIA+ and supporters of the community as well. Fontbonne student and ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, Olivia Lieto ‘23 expressed, “As someone whose childhood has been shaped by the Harry Potter stories, learning that the person who created those stories is so hateful to the LGBTQ community makes it hard to keep loving them.” Those in the community who once felt accepted and represented in her books were disappointed to find out her hurtful opinions on trans people and their identities.
Her hurtful tweets started on June 6, 2020 when she tweeted, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” This tweet garnered a lot of attention as she was assuming that everyone who menstruates identifies as a woman, which is invalidating to FTM trans people who still menstruate and identify as men, as well as non-binary people who menstruate.
Her comments didn’t stop there: on June 10, 2020 she proceeded to tweet, “TERF Wars.” TERF is a term usually used to describe someone against transgender people whilst being a feminist - the term is an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
However, her words aren’t the only things blatantly anti-trans, as she has donated money to an anti-trans rape crisis center called Beira’s Place. Beira’s Place is centered around strictly women’s care and will turn away trans women and non-binary people as a result.
With all this information of J.K. Rowlings controversial views being easily accessible to the public, people are reluctant to support Hogwarts Legacy as a result. This is especially true since Hogwarts Legacy has introduced a trans woman that goes by the name of “Sirona Ryan.” People attributed this as a lazy attempt at trying to justify Rowling's actions despite her having no creative liberty with the game.
Many creators on TikTok have also poked fun at how the name “Sirona Ryan'' sounds satirical as if they were trying to hint at her not being a “real woman” and still being a “sir.” TikTok user aryn003 posted, “Jk Rowling trying not to name her trans character “Nota Realgurl…” [sic] It has almost become a trend to ponder on the names that J.K. Rowling would have made LGBTQIA+ characters if she had creative liberty over the game.
With all the information presented here I leave you with the decision of whether or not you want to support a game with profits going to such a hateful individual.
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