Harry Potter would never become a cop
and its time to say goodbye
I do not have a Harry Potter tattoo, and that’s only because I didn’t start treating my anxiety until I was in my late 20s.
But thank fuck.
If you know me in the real world, I would not be surprised if you associate me with Hogwarts. I went to the midnight release parties at Barnes and Noble for the last three books, lining up with friends in the parking lot long before the sunset. We went to see the movies, also at midnight, in IMAX (the one inside the furniture store). “Snape, Snape, Severus Snape, Dumbledore…” still gets stuck in my head on the regular and yes, I’ve watched A Very Potter Musical countless times. My luggage tag was, until recently, the Ravenclaw crest. And I did, perhaps, make a second Pottermore account when my first was sorted into Hufflepuff and not Ravenclaw. My Pinterest has a board named ‘Always’ (its archived, okay?) (I never claimed to be cool, okay?).
I get it, I consumed a lot of Wizarding World content and it still occupies a large part of my brain (drink anytime Jessie corrects the movies with book knowledge).
However, even I have to admit when its time to move on. And it is. It is time to let nostalgia go.
In actuality, I stopped engaging with Ms Rowling (or ‘she-who-must-not-be-named’ as she is referred to in my townhouse) years ago. I have never seen the plays (or read them), and I stopped seeing new movies after the first Fantastic Beasts film. More importantly, I have no intention of engaging with the new series.
But Jessie? Why? You love Harry Potter!
I did, but alas, Joann is back on her bullshit.
For all these books did for me during childhood and adolescence, it can’t make up for the real harm that JK Rowling perpetuates daily. Instead of defending the most vulnerable among us, she’s made it her personal mission to vilify them. She sits around all Scrooge McDuck with her literal billions, funneling them into anti-trans bills and propaganda.
And for someone who helped raise millions of children and young adults to foster stronger senses of empathy and justice, to embrace those unlike us, and to stand up for what is right now matter how many stand against you, Rowling seems to have missed her own lessons.
So let me be loud and clear: trans women are women.
That’s it. Full stop. Send tweet.
I’m not going to justify it with some biology lesson. The majority of us do not know or understand the human endocrine systems to speak to hormone levels and the myriad ways someone’s body may present, myself included. The arguments that used to focus on bathrooms now focus on sports. The NCAA says there’s about 10 athletes in the US who identify as trans. Not one in ten, 10. 10 literal people in all of college sports. Trans people make up about 1% of the population, and .002% of college athletes. For context, redheads make up about 1-2% of the world’s population.
Regardless, everyone deserves to live as their truest selves (redheads included).
My existence as a cis-woman is not threatened by trans women. And I would much rather be an ally to the trans community than a Ravenclaw stan. I would much rather be associated with the trans community than with JK Rowling.
A beautiful thing about art, whatever medium, is that once its out there, its out there. You can’t control what people see or how they interpret and sometimes they find meaning that was never intended. Maybe its greed and perpetually padding her pocketbook, but Rowling can’t seem to let go. And the tighter her grip remains, the books become all the more tied to her personal opinions.
Insert some brilliant analysis of death of the author and when does the book become the product of the readers.
Because of her vicelike hold on the IP (and everything it touches), it has been impossible not to let Joann’s opinions tarnish these once beloved stories. And once that shiny veneer was cracked, the other issues in the text became so much more glaring. The metaphors, the racial stereotyping, etc., (shout out to that guy with a dark mark tattoo I dated for a hot second, weird choice on both our parts) there are so many that each deserves its own essay.
And let me be clear, Harry Potter himself would have allied with the trans community, that snarky, empathetic boy. He would have never become a wizard cop (ACAB) and instead should have become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, breaking the curse, and you know not contradicting the character development that was built in the final three books.
And he would have let Ginny give the kids at least one Weasley name.
If you can’t break up with the Wizarding World yet, it’s a great excuse to go and support your local library. Get the books and movies there, if you must. But don’t give an oligarch more money. Don’t let your hard earned money go towards bigotry.
And remember, there’s a lot of fun fantasy at all levels out there, written by people with better imaginations, who aren’t using their money to fund hateful bills.