The Harry Potter fandom has been going strong for more than 20 years, and we are so proud to have been there alongside so many, celebrating, learning, and growing together.
As this fandom enters its third decade, J.K. Rowling has chosen this time to loudly pronounce harmful and disproven beliefs about what it means to be a transgender person. 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.
Although 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. We stand with Harry Potter fans in these communities, and while we don’t condone the mistreatment JKR has received for airing her opinions about transgender people, we must reject her beliefs.
We have seen countless people use the Potter books and fan fiction to explore their own identities while spreading love and acceptance. We know that this is still possible, and we know that we want to continue to be part of that movement. We are committed to doing better work in our community to uplift and center the people who have been marginalized and create positive change from within our fandom platforms.
To start, in order to make sure that FictionAlley and its related sites and projects may be safely enjoyed by those who have been targeted, we have unfollowed her Twitter account, and will not RT any content created by her. While we are not removing ads or links through which people can purchase the books, films and merchandise as purchases of secondhand items do not provide a revenue stream to her, we will not be creating new links or promotions for any works that do provide a revenue stream to her as an individual.
This marks the beginning of a renewed commitment to supporting the Harry Potter community with conscientiousness and understanding. We will update this page as we develop efforts to elevate and fund-raise in support of fandomers, because fandom is our fandom.
Thank you for continuing to visit our site, participate in the fandom that has long belonged to all of us, and help us work to realize the vision of this truly inclusive fandom. If you have input or ideas on how to achieve this, we’d love to hear from you; just comment on this post this month; to mitigate spam issues, we will close the post to comments in early August.
If you are a trans person seeking support, we urge you to do so by calling Trans Lifeline's peer support hotline.
To start, in order to make sure that FictionAlley and its related sites and projects may be safely enjoyed by those who have been targeted, we have unfollowed her Twitter account, and will not RT any content created by her. While we are not removing ads or links through which people can purchase the books, films and merchandise as purchases of secondhand items do not provide a revenue stream to her, we will not be creating new links or promotions for any works that do provide a revenue stream to her as an individual.
This marks the beginning of a renewed commitment to supporting the Harry Potter community with conscientiousness and understanding. We will update this page as we develop efforts to elevate and fund-raise in support of fandomers, because fandom is our fandom.
Thank you for continuing to visit our site, participate in the fandom that has long belonged to all of us, and help us work to realize the vision of this truly inclusive fandom. If you have input or ideas on how to achieve this, we’d love to hear from you; just comment on this post this month; to mitigate spam issues, we will close the post to comments in early August.
If you are a trans person seeking support, we urge you to do so by calling Trans Lifeline's peer support hotline.
Wow! This is brilliant. Thank you. I very much respect your choice.
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