Thank God You Never Got a Harry Potter Tattoo
It all begins with an idea.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or splitting your soul into Horcruxes), you’ve probably been made aware of the insensitive and transphobic remarks J.K. Rowling has been spouting on Twitter. After being “offended” by an article opting to use the phrase “people who menstruate” in lieu of “women”, Rowling took to Twitter to dig herself into a deep, dark, shame-cocoon by stating, “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.”
The Twitter thread has sparked outrage amongst a number of celebrity LGBTQIA members and allies including: Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, Broadway star Anthony Rapp, The Good Place’s Jameela Jamil and singer Halsey (just to name a few). Rowling has been dubbed a TERF: Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, which is essentially like Dobby only trying to free a third of the house elf population. Dobby don’t play like that.
Rowling’s victim mentality and approach toward discussing the trans journey and how it has affected her straight white being is offensive and, frankly, inaccurate. Transgenderism doesn’t erase anyone’s personal journey as a woman any more than Dumbledore’s sexuality erased his platonic love for Harry. To use this “all or nothing” mentality fails to incorporate the intricacies of gender and ignores the intersectionality framework that makes up people with overlapping identities that don’t fit in a box. But then again, this is the same woman who named an Asian character “Cho Chang”.
In the dumpster fire that is 2020, and with the Black Lives Matter and Black Trans Lives Matter movements growing in numbers every day, it is the most bizarre hill for Rowling to choose to die on. Hopefully, she’ll stick to pontificating on Twitter and not subject us to a series about what it means to be a “REAL GIRL”. Hermione Granger and the Daintiest Diva Cup? I’ll pass.