Harry Potter. These two words immediately take fantasy lovers from all countries to the mystical school of wizardry: Hogwarts. Even decades after its final film release, billions of Harry Potter fans are still on the hunt for new merchandise and venues, an example of which is the much-anticipated Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio that opens this summer in Tokyo. Yet, behind every masterpiece lies a mastermind, and it is impossible to discuss the Harry Potter franchise without its author, Joanne Kathleen (J.K.) Rowling. In order to satisfy the unquenchable thirst of Harry Potter fans, a role-playing action game called Hogwarts Legacy was released on February 10, 2023; however, fans eager to play the game found themselves in a predicament due to J.K. Rowling’s controversial remarks on transgender issues.

Since 2018, Rowling has not hesitated to express her views on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. For instance, in 2018, she was called out for liking a tweet that referred to transgender women as “men in dresses.” Years after that, she tweeted in support of Maya Forstater, a researcher who lost her job for claiming that a person could not change their own biological sex. In June 2020, Rowling’s controversial tweet regarding the issue sparked outrage, as she stated, “I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.” On June 10, 2020, Rowling published a 3,690-word long essay entitled “Trans-exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERF) Wars,” reasoning that young people who decide to transition “often grow out of their dysphoria,” thus refusing to accept transgender identities as a whole. Due to the viral nature of her comments, many celebrities, including Robbie Coltrane, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe, along with countless Harry Potter fans have expressed their respective opinions on this through various platforms.

Boycotting Hogwarts Legacy

The recently released game Hogwarts Legacy has been caught in the crossfire of this issue. Developed by Avalanche Software, the game takes place in the “Wizarding World,” the official name of Rowling’s Harry Potter universe, taking fans back to the late 1800s of this fantasy world. The game enables the players to explore hidden mystical journeys to an ancient secret in this setting. In addition, as the game allows access to familiar locations that appear in the original Harry Potter books, such as Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the four Hogwarts Houses’ common rooms, overjoyed reactions from billions of fans were not unforeseen.

Although Rowling’s controversial stance on transgender people became an issue several years ago, it regained the spotlight after the launch of Hogwarts Legacy, since Rowling co-owns the rights to the Wizarding World and Harry Potter’s intellectual property with Warner Brothers Entertainment. This implies that Rowling will earn her fair share from the profits of the game, which sold 12 million copies in just its first two weeks, amounting to 850 million United States dollars (USD), according to Gamerant. Although the exact monetary compensation that Rowling receives from the sales of Hogwarts Legacy is unknown, she assuredly would gain a large profit from its earnings. Many people expressed their dissatisfaction toward this, as the profits would be most likely to support Rowling’s transphobic behaviors. Additionally, “Sirona Ryan,” a rather obviously named transgender character from the game, is viewed as a poor attempt to include LGBTQ community in the franchise, and many expressed their disdain toward Rowling for her lack of accountability as a creator of the universe.

Art and Morale

Harry Potter stands as one of the most renowned fantasy series, alongside Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. In most cases, authors of fantasy genres intentionally distance themselves from political, and social controversies, to preserve their fantasy worlds and safeguard their sales accordingly. However, Rowling is just the opposite of a “typical” fantasy writer, repeatedly attempting to build clout by drawing attention to herself and her controversial ideas on transphobic ideas, about which NPR jokingly stated that Harry Potter’s magic fades when his creator tweets.

According to The Guardian, Sebastian Croft, an actor who worked on Hogwarts Legacy, commented “I was cast […] long before I was aware of Rowling’s views. There is no LGB without the T.” Similarly, supporters are disconnecting their decades of relationship with Harry Potter. One transgender interviewee for NPR stated that “Hogwarts was my refuge. I identified with Harry’s unease in the Muggle World. […] Rowling so casually mocks language that seeks to include me and other trans people.” Thus, this leaves the question of whether it is morally acceptable to separate an author’s biography from their work. As the LGBTQ community gained its status as a mainstream issue in recent years, so will the backlash against Rowling.

What started with a mere like on Twitter escalated to the moral scrutinization of a certain writer and the fans who supported her work. Although it is evident that Hogwarts Legacy has gained immense success as a game, it leaves many questions unanswered, most prominently whether playing the game can be seen as a simple means of entertainment, or the immoral support of anti-trans organizations. Rowling’s questionable stance toward transgender people has influenced not only the LGBTQ community but also Harry Potter fans, as it may change how audiences view the tie between literary works and authors. Although authors hold full “author”ity of their works, the freedom of the 21st century has enabled readers to speak out against many beloved creative works with more, and this trend will continue.