No matter how hard Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has tried to distance itself from J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans views, the author’s stance keeps coming back to haunt the show. Multiple tweets and statements in support of the trans community quite frankly aren’t enough when Rowling’s name remains boldly on the bill. Despite Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne’s attempts to reason with Rowling over her transphobic views, nothing seems to change her mind when it comes to harming the trans community. She has her wicked ways and she’s sticking to them. And now, those views are hurting the show that is, arguably, the one Harry Potter property that does try to support the trans community. Or at least they pretend they do.
The play, which was set to have a panel at the London Comic Con this October, was pulled when the LGBTQ+ charity Switchboard realized that one of the panels was a Harry Potter-themed one. “When we agreed to host a Pride Lounge at this year’s MCM London Comic Con we did so with the aim of connecting with their diverse fan community. However, at that time we were unaware of their plans to feature any panels using the Harry Potter IP (intellectual property),” they wrote on X.
A decision was then made to cancel the panel. “Following discussions between MCM Comic Con and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a joint decision has been taken for the production not to run the proposed panel on 28 October. The aim of the panel was to hear from the production team working behind the scenes. Thank you for understanding.”
Ruining your own legacy
Rowling’s fall from grace is one that will, I think, be studied one day in schools. For decades, there were legions of readers who loved her and were inspired by her books. And then she threw it all away because she refused to recognize that trans women are women. Rowling has a massive platform and is one of the wealthiest authors alive, yet this is how she chooses to define her legacy. Now she sits on X, waiting for someone to say something she deems worthy of her wrath.
It’s quite sad to watch. Rowling went from beloved author to Death Eater, seeming to miss the very message of her own book series. The panel’s cancellation was the right move because they shouldn’t have to be confronted with a creator who doesn’t want to give them the respect they deserve as human beings.
More conventions should do this. It isn’t fair to the trans community to be confronted with Rowling’s work in a space meant to be safe for everyone. Canceling the panel was the right call: kudos to MCM London for doing so and to Switchboard for speaking out against this.
(via Pink News, featured image: Sam Tabone/WireImage)
