JK Rowling kicked out of Harry Potter exhibition because of her trans stance — RT Games & Culture
Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture has removed any reference to Harry Potter author JK Rowling from an exhibit celebrating the fictional wizard, due to her presence. “super hateful and divisive” comments about the transgender community.
“There’s a certain cold, heartless, joy-sucking entity in the world of Harry Potter and, this time, it’s not actually a Dementor.” The exhibition’s project manager, Chris Moore, who is transgender, wrote in a blog explaining the decision to remove Rowling from the museum.
Moore added: “This certain someone is a little too vocal with their super hateful and controversial opinions to ignore.” The blog post also explains that the absence of the series creator is a short-term measure to “reduce its impact” while the museum determines its “long-term practices”.
According to the Daily Mail newspaper, the Harry Potter exhibit remains on view but without any mention of the creator of the series, which has sold more than 500 million books worldwide since 1997. JK Rowling has been inducted into the museum’s Hall of Fame in 2018.
In a statement, the museum said it was “proud to support our employees and unequivocally stands with the non-binary and transgender communities. »
Rowling first sparked controversy in 2019 when she posted a message on social media in support of a British woman who lost her job after she herself tweeted that a woman could not change her biological sex.
“I absolutely knew that if I spoke out, a lot of people who love my books would be deeply unhappy with me. » the author said in a podcast interview earlier this year. She added that the backlash against her views led her to be “sometimes I was afraid for my safety and, overwhelmingly, for that of my family.”
Rowling was absent last year from events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of the first Harry Potter book – with each of the film series’ three stars expressing opposition to her statements about transgender people.
Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played Harry Potter in the eight films that grossed more than $7.7 billion at the worldwide box office, said he was “hurt” by Rowling’s comments. Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, also said: “Trans women are women, trans men are men” while Emma Watson announced a donation to a transgender charity following Rowling’s comments.
Rowling is one of the most famous authors in the world. In 2008, nine years after the release of the first Harry Potter book, she was named the highest-earning author in the world by Forbes magazine.
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