Harry Potter fan sites are shunning Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling after she said only women can menstruate.
Two biggest Harry Potter fan sites — Leaky Caldron and Mugglenet — said they will no longer provide links to Rowling’s personal website, cover her personal endeavors, or use photos of her. The fan sites also said they will censor the author’s social media posts.
In June, J.K Rowling faced backlash after suggesting on Twitter that only women can menstruate. The author later clarified her initial remarks 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.”
‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate https://t.co/cVpZxG7gaA
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
“I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives,” she added. “It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
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.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
Now, according to Leaky Caldron and Mugglenet, the author of the best-selling Harry Potter books must be censored in order to make sure that the fan sites may be “safely enjoyed” by everyone.
“J.K. Rowling has chosen this time to loudly pronounce harmful and disproven beliefs about what it means to be a transgender person,” affirm the fan sites in their joint statement.
The statement continued:
In addition to the distaste we feel for her choice to publish these statements during Pride Month — as well as during a global reckoning on racial injustice — we find the use of her influence and privilege to target marginalized people to be out of step with the message of acceptance and empowerment we find in her books and celebrated by the Harry Potter community.
The websites, which combined have more than one million Facebook fans, add that while it is “difficult to speak out against someone whose work we have so long admired, it would be wrong not to use our platforms to counteract the harm she has caused.”
“Our stance is firm: Transgender women are women. Transgender men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary. Intersex people exist and should not be forced to live in the binary,” the statement affirms.
Ironically, Lord Voldemort — a character who was “not to be named” in Rowling’s books — now has a Harry Potter fan site dedicated to him. Meanwhile, the author of the popular books is shunned for suggesting that only biological women are women.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.
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