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  • SoozcatSoozcat@raphus.social
    Sep 7, 2026, 5:04 PM

    I still have my t-shirt that says "When in doubt, go to the library." It's soft and comfortable, it fits me perfectly, I like the sentiment and the design. And I have to get rid of it. Not because I think it's going to do anything to JK Rowling, who continues to rake money in with both claws, no doubt hissing happily. She will never know or care what I think of her.

    But it's not for her. It's for my nephew.

    He loved the Harry Potter books growing up, just as much as I did. He wrote fan letters to Rowling, thanking her for coming up with such a wonderful world. He came out as trans not long after Rowling went full TERF, and her attitude broke his heart.

    At this point, if I wear Harry Potter-related merchandise of any kind in public, I know the message I am giving to the kinds of people Rowling thinks shouldn't exist. They can't know I'm a safe person if I choose to wear that shirt. And while Rowling's opinion doesn't matter to me, my nephew's feelings do.

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Replies

  • SoozcatSoozcat@raphus.social
    Sep 7, 2026, 5:12 PM

    Rowling may never experience social comeuppance for her actions the way Bill Cosby faced legal jeopardy for his. Trans people are a relatively small subset of humanity, and unfortunately JK Rowling isn't the only person who thinks they shouldn't exist at all. (*ehem*Trump*ehem*) Trying to financially break someone like this by boycott is not going to make a difference to her, but that's not really the point. It will make a difference to the people who are being affected by her cruelty. It will make a difference to those who might think that my love of a pop culture character is greater than my love of real people with real lives.

    So it's time to let this shirt go. Just as a lot of people got rid of some garish "Cosby sweaters" back in the 20 teens. And for much the same reason.

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  • TattieTattie@eldritch.cafe
    Oct 3, 2026, 12:40 PM

    @Soozcat thank you, from a transgender woman and ex-Harry-Potter fan.

    I was having a conversation the other day with a classmate, who mentioned the series in passing and saw me flinch.

    "Oh, are you not a fan?", she asked.

    "It's just... what JK Rowling says about people like me. About how she uses her money to try to destroy us."

    "Oh." She was taken aback. "I've heard a little about that. And I don't want to be part of that, but... you have to understand. I grew up with the series. It means so much to me."

    "I get that," I responded. "I was also a fan. I waited for hours outside the bookshop for book number five to be released. I went to Harry Potter parties. I speculated online about plot points. All my friends were into it. And then JK came out as transphobic, and it ripped all that away from me. Overnight the entire fandom was ruined for me, because I knew what she thought about me and everyone like me."

    I know what I'm asking when I ask cis fans to step away. Not because it is easy, but because it is heartbreaking. Because it broke my heart.

    I'm asking them to gently abandon their nostalgia and their sense of belonging linked to the series, difficult tho that is, on the grounds that people are more important. I am not an abstract political position but a human being, with the capacity to suffer.

    It is difficult to step away from something that brought you comfort. It's an order of magnitude harder to have it torn from you and turned against you. That's something I hope few people have to experience in their lives.

    ❤️

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  • Fénixspacelogic@kind.social
    Oct 3, 2026, 3:00 PM

    @Tattie @Soozcat I feel this, though I was lucky that I had grown away from HP fandom before it became unbearably obvious. Nowadays I think I maybe didn't so much *like the stories* as have a special interest combined with the pleasure of being able to talk to mainstream people about it. But I poured years of my life into the fandom, it was where I found community in my youth, and now I can't bear to think too much about that entire period because JKR's actions have tainted those memories.

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  • SoozcatSoozcat@raphus.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 7:35 AM

    @Tattie I've often wondered if it would help those who are having a hard time walking away from Harry Potter to imagine being in a huge auditorium with thousands of fellow fans, cheering as their favorite author walks to a spot behind a podium.

    "Thank you!" the author says. "Thank you so much! I'm so thrilled to be here with you today. EXCEPT FOR YOU. You there. Arthur. Arthur Philip Dent in seat 42V. How dare you come in here? I despise you! You're a jerk, Dent. A real kneebiter. And everyone within the sound of my voice should HATE YOU TOO."

    Because that, in essence, is what Rowling did to transgender Harry Potter fans.

    (with apologies to Hitchhiker's Guide fans)

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  • Dustin D. WindMySideIsHumanity@myprivate.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 2:45 PM

    @Soozcat @Tattie IMO, worse… she explored the themes of found family, and a child who’s misunderstood and cruelly mistreated by society finding their own special place to belong.

    Which, as much as it belongs to anyone, belongs most to those who have been abusively marginalized.

    She’s a little closer to someone who makes a birthday cake for an ethical vegetarian… then once the party’s over, she reveals her special ingredient of powdered factory-farmed chicken bones. 👹

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  • TattieTattie@eldritch.cafe
    Oct 4, 2026, 4:05 PM

    @MySideIsHumanity this!
    And there's a parallel with her personal life: she has long pushed this "rags to riches" account of her life, which falls apart quickly when you examine it. JK is a privileged woman playing at being oppressed. Always has been. So it makes sense that she mistrusts and attacks those actually oppressed.
    @Soozcat

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  • Dustin D. WindMySideIsHumanity@myprivate.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 4:26 PM

    @Tattie @Soozcat From lynchings of “savages” to the Central Park woman SWATting an uppity Black birdwatcher who dared ask her to control her unleashed dog, and far beyond… the oppressed can tell you, few things are as dangerous as a privileged cis White woman who chooses to weaponize her crocodile tears in service of her ego and the moneyed patriarchy. 😔

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  • Kate Hildenbrandrootsandcalluses@mstdn.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 7:36 AM

    @Tattie This! I am trans enby, and the series used to fill so much of my life. I had (and unfortunately still have) so much of my brain filled with trivia. I still have quotes from the series pop up in random moments.

    The series was flawed, we all knew that... White default, police as the good guys, fat shaming, and all that. But it wasn't until that person started terfing around (and to my shame a little while after) that I accepted I had to give up that part of my identity.

    @Soozcat

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  • D. G. Marshalldavidtheeviloverlord@mastodon.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 5:53 AM

    @Soozcat

    One of the two series I'm writing is about YA superheroes. At one point, a new character arrives at the superhero school. She talks about magic like it's real, sparking an argument with those who don't believe in magic.

    In the first draft, Harry Potter was mentioned. The magic girl's complete ignorance of Potter was the first clue that She's Not From Around Here.

    Then Rowling went all TERF. And she was hurting people who only wanted to live their lives.

    1/2

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  • D. G. Marshalldavidtheeviloverlord@mastodon.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 6:02 AM

    @Soozcat

    Trans people asked us cis people to not Potter.

    So I removed the Harry Potter reference, and replaced it with my own fictional (i.e. non existent) magic school novels.

    And then I started writing a series of comic fantasy novels.

    The third novel, currently under construction, features that character and magic school.

    And that character is trans, and I hope that helps trans people, and upsets TERFs.

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  • Dustin D. WindMySideIsHumanity@myprivate.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 2:27 PM

    @davidtheeviloverlord @Soozcat Not to take away from your work, but to add to it: I’m pretty fond of Nevermoor / the Morrigan Crow series because, though not at a magic school per se, Jessica Townsend does her own awesome job of weaving a story of a hurtfully-abandoned child finding family of her own making (set in a world of fantastic themes).

    Without the entire suite of hateful, racist, patriarchal, etc baggage that JKR gave to her world.

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  • Commander Realo :trekbadgetng:jacobrealo@tenforward.social
    Oct 4, 2026, 6:12 PM

    @Soozcat There may be a racial aspect we haven’t touched on. Rowling is a white woman from an English speaking country. Cosby is a black man from an English speaking country. In the United States, the importance of many people who identify as Black/African American (especially with athletes) is their talent. If you are considered to be proficient in some manner in your career field, you gain more acceptance among your non-Black/African American peers. I think Cosby’s career suffered so massively only because of his racial identity. Had he been White, that sentiment to punish him could have been very different.

    Rowling may be keeping their fanbase that survives partly due to this. I can’t prove it but it may inherently at a subconscious level be that for many people. Racism might be the factor that differentiates these two celebrities.

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  • SoozcatSoozcat@raphus.social
    Oct 5, 2026, 2:04 AM

    @jacobrealo I remember when the Cosby issues finally came to the forefront, a few people were publicly disgruntled about it, saying (paraphrasing here) "if Cosby were white, he never would have gone to jail." The point is that it's not right for ANYBODY to drug and assault people, but for most of human history it's been possible to get away with just about anything as long as you're white, male and rich.

    IMO that's not a feature, it's a bug. And it needs fixing.

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  • Dustin D. WindMySideIsHumanity@myprivate.social
    Sep 8, 2026, 12:00 AM

    @Soozcat Both claws, or both fangs? 🤔🐍

    (With apologies to our ophioid friends, for the comparison. It just seemed like out of the four houses, she’d be most at home slithering around in the TERF. 😒)

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  • Jules she/herafewbugs@social.coop
    Oct 4, 2026, 9:07 PM

    @Soozcat tangential to your main, important point I know, but if the tshirt is comfy and fits perfectly, rather than getting rid of it I've seen some amazing things people have done painting, appliqueing or embroidering over Harry Potter merch to hide the original design. Have you considered trying that?

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  • SoozcatSoozcat@raphus.social
    Oct 5, 2026, 2:06 AM

    @afewbugs I would consider doing that if I still had the shirt. Since composing this (admittedly long) thread in early September, I've removed the shirt from my wardrobe. Well worth considering for other items, though! Thanks.

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