Now this might seem like a strange subject to bring up on a blog that has most of it’s focus on the boys love and yaoi genre, but and this will come as no surprise to anyone who has been in the Harry Potter fandom for a long time, but for those who do not know, there is quite a large yaoi shipping community around the Harry Potter franchise as a whole. I wrote about this briefly in my fanfic rec post about the site Walking the Plank a fanfic community that works specifically with the ship Snarry (Snape X Harry) but as I have watched the disgusting comments continue to come from J.K. Rowling I find myself having to take a giant step back, and debate whether I want to continue to be part of a fandom that gives money to someone who shares such vile and frankly dangerous information.
J.K. Rowling has become the modern poster woman for TERFs and I do not give a flying fuck if you find this word disgusting because to put it very bluntly the bullshit these kinds of people spout is disgusting and dangerous. To those who don’t know the meaning of this word it stands for Trans-Exclusive Radical Feminism, basically feminists that believe trans woman are not real woman and therefore don’t deserve the same rights as cis woman (cis being the term for those who gender identity match the medical sex they were assigned at birth). If it was just a matter of them not including trans woman I honestly would probably not have much of a problem with them. I would still see them as bigots but at the end of the day you can not force others to let those they do not want into their chosen group. What makes these kinds of feminists dangerous is the fact that they outright deny in some cases the fact that trans people actually exist and go as far as deliberately using the wrong pronouns when they know someone is trans and out right deadnaming trans men and women, and yes I said trans men as well because a lot of TERFs hate trans men more than woman but that is a discussion for another time.
Over the last few years more and more transphobic comments have been coming from J.K. Rowling. When I first signed up for Twitter over a decade ago, her twitter account was one of the first celeb accounts I followed because I had so much respect for her as a write and loved Harry Potter so much as a young adult. Near the end of 2018 I unfollowed her because I was not impressed and honestly a little disturbed by some of her views. That being said I am someone who firmly believes that people can believe whatever the hell they would like, but to share one of my all time favourite quotes…
This post has nothing to do with religion but religion can in this infamous quote be changed for opinion and the meaning behind the quote is the same. It is when someone begins sharing opinions as facts that things begin to become dangerous and that is exactly what J.K. Rowling’s views on gender dysphoria and the trans community are at the end of the day, they are opinions. She has not studied the so called ‘medical scandal’ about gender disphoria she likes to go on and on about, but her fans and followers are taking her statements as facts which is spreading hate towards a community that does not deserve it.
I love her wizarding world of fiction so much. I have made friends over the years thanks to her work, but as someone who is a part of the LGBTQ+ and supporter of those within this community I can not in good conscious do anything that will in the future promote her work or spend my own money on anything from the fandom that I know will put money in her pocket. I cannot support the work and ignore the author’s actions because supporting her work does financially support her and to to blunt once again but she really needs to shut up about a subject she knows absolutely nothing about.
I will admit myself am not an expert on the subject myself, so in closing this post I want to share a video that goes further into detail about why her views are dangerous to the community. Please support the amazing channel behind this video.
And if you want to help support Yaoi Playground please consider donating to my Ko-fi.
Yaoi Playground 
I’m in a simialr boat. I really enjoyed the books and the films, but I my word, I can’t stomach the stuff she has been coming out with. It’s such a sad thing to see, because I’ve previously been one to defend her when other writers I know were complaining that her work is poor.
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its hard when you have to turn your back on work that you love because of a problematic author, it also annoys me when people use the whole death of the author argument saying you can love their work and not the author because in situations like this one the money still goes back to the author
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Aye. It’s not like a public domain piece where nothing is going back to her now. Even then though, I can only separate art and artist so far. They’re are definite limits. And in her case, there’s no real excuse for her to not know better given the wealth of info out there.
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She is so rich money is meaningless. Consider that the publicity that has been given her by this has its own value.
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this is why I was debating for the last month whether to write this post or not
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Yes, I had thought of that. I had similar thoughts whenev
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whenever Graham Lineham posted anti-trans stuff.
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Anyone who looks to a celebrity for moral guidance has a problem to begin with. Most celebrities are idiots outside of what made them famous.
The problem is that “the gender you were assigned at birth” is really a social construct based on the presence or absence of a Y chromosome. That Y chromosome really does have a determinant effect on biology (usually a penis and testicles, larger muscles, increased body size) and variable effects on psychology. Society created rules and roles based on it that have largely been unchanged for millennia.
We don’t want those rules anymore but there are many who do. I don’t believe it is out of hate but rather out of fear.
The notion that “gender” isn’t a synonym for genetic sex is a new one and it is going to take a lot of people a lot of time to wrap their heads around it. Most people have not. Visions of sexually rapacious males being able to use restrooms and locker rooms with women just by claiming that their gender preference is female are probably dancing thru her head.
Men are really highly modified women – and it is all that Y chromosome’s fault. Think about it.
https://aunatural.org/2019/04/22/masculine-biology-and-the-trope-owls-blog-tour/
Hate only breeds more hate. Aside from directing a “hearts and minds” campaign at her, I’d simply disagree and move on. The good her books and movies have done far outweighs her crude comments and any private views she holds.
It will probably require another generational change before gender will widely be viewed as independent of genetic sex.
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wow thank you for such an informative comment, especially the comment about the dangers of looking to celebs for moral guidance, I remember reading that blog post last year and found it a very fascinating read
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Thanks. I was worried I was going to get a hostile response to this. There’s no justification for what she wrote yet it is probably supported by a majority of the general public. (Crying)
Every person is a mixture of good and bad and she just put the bad on egregious display. It is a horrid mark on her accomplishments but doesn’t make them go away. When Harry Potter shows up on my cable I’m not going to tell my wife to change the channel. I’ve always believed that a work stands on its own, independent of the bad behavior of the creator.
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