It’s like someone waved a magic wand!
It’s alright everyone! Crisis averted! The Harry Potter Universe now has a new trans character and all is right in the wizarding world! Now we can all spend our hard earned dollars on Hogwarts Legacy in peace! It doesn’t matter that a percentage of that money is going to one of the most high profile transphobes in the entire world! We have a token trans girl! There hasn’t been wizarding news this good since J.K. Rowling announced that Dumbledore was lowkey gay the entire time! What a victory for the LGBTQ community!
Who is Sirona Ryan?
Now I wonder, was her name J.K. Rowling’s idea? Because you can’t say this woman’s name without saying “sir”. They really thought that one through! But it’s okay! Because Sirona Ryan is going to be your new trans best friend. And we all know that when you have a trans friend, you can’t possibly still be prejudiced against trans people. That’s just now how friendships with minorities work!
Sirona Ryan is the proprietor of The Three Broomsticks. And she makes a point to inform the protagonist that her classmates āwas actually a witch, not a wizard” when she was in wizarding school! I wonder if Sirona’s Three Broomsticks has gender neutral bathrooms too, because J.K. sure isn’t gonna like that!
But again, it’s totally chill! This game is so far removed from J.K. Rowling that she’s only making some money from it. She probably won’t even hang on to it! I’m sure she’ll donate it all to her women’s shelter (that happens to turn away trans women).
What Gave The Creators This Wonderful Idea?
Why, they simply found it in the goodness of their hearts to be inclusive! The game’s creative director Alan Tew said in an interview with IGN that he knows that Harry Potter fans are a “diverse audience,” and he and the designers of the game want to make sure that audience has the “opportunity to feel welcomed back”. And what better welcome than token representation? I can’t think of any!
And I just want to make sure that everyone knows this is totally not a ploy to “pivot the conversation away” from Rowling’s transphobia, no matter what inside sources involved with the project have to say! It’s all because of the game’s commitment to diversity! And definitely not some “performative bullshit” according to one of the sources. Aside from confirming that the gameplay is “mediocre” and the RPG elements are “vastly oversold,” this source also claims that Sirona is “barely in it” with regards to the story. But don’t look this gift Hippogriff in the mouth! We just gotta be patient! I think we can all agree that we can wait another ten years for Hogwarts Legacy 2. I’m sure they’ll give a trans character a whole entire scene in the sequel!
It’s Totally NOT A Meaningless Gesture!
Sirona Ryan is many things, but a performative handwave to the trans community she is not! Don’t listen to those Twitter fuddy-duddies! Sure the game is “funneling money to someone who will use it to marginalize a group of people, while pretending to be on their side via meaningless gestures with the other” according to one Twitter user, but don’t think about that! Think about the wide variety of gender customization options (there are two!) that fall under the categories of “witch” and wizard”. Think about how this game is almost but not really even close to a “Harry Potter Skyrim” or any worthwhile RPG. Think about all the “piddling offer of body choices” you can choose from when you’re creating your character (“piddling” is better than “non-existent”!) But whatever you do, DON’T think about how J.K. Rowling has touted people’s interest in the game and the Harry Potter franchise as a whole as a sign that they agree with her transphobic views. DON’T think about how supporting the J.K. Rowling’s work keeps her and her views culturally relevant. And definitely DON’T think about how other transphobes are using the game as a banner to rally behind! That’ll really put a fly in your butterbeer! And don’t think that even Sirona herself will be able to fish it out!
(Image Credit: Warner Bros Games)
