In late December, 2019, I became aware of J.K. Rowling's bizarre "Sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you" Tweet, which marked, for me at least, the beginning of the Harry Potter author's rebranding as an irrational transphobe and hatemonger. In the annals of fandom, there had never been a case of an author so completely contradicting the core ethos and popular appeal of her work (i.e., don't listen to the grown-ups who want you to conform and tell you that you are a freak and should be ashamed; what is special about you is the source of your power, a power that just might save the world) in such few words.
Saturday, August 12, 2023
A J.K. Rowling Transphobia Primer (A Good, Old-Fashioned Link List!)
Originally posted April 6, 2021; last updated August 12, 2023.
Below is a good, old-fashioned link list of the J.K. Rowling transgender controversy. I initially built this list for my college students who were reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) as part of a "Coming-of-Age" literature class (they've also read Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, and Steven Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, fyi). When I first started posting on the controversy, it seemed to many like only an intercene fandom happening, but the story has continued to have ramifications for the business prospects of the Harry Potter franchise, to say nothing of the real-world impact on the trans community. For my views, see other posts on this blog. - Donald E. Simpson, PhD.
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