“As someone with trans family and friends, this is an issue that I care deeply about, and I could never look them in the eye and say that I supported monetarily,” says Pat, a 31-year-old who found Potter’s veiled magical world captivating as a child. When I asked people on social media for their views on the game, all but one mentioned Rowling’s association with it. A majority of this generation agrees that, in the words of Croft, Emma Watson and other actors associated with the Harry Potter franchise, trans women are women and trans men are men one-third of millennials have someone transgender in their lives. The UK charity Stonewall reported last year that 18% of millennials identify as LGBTQ+. But for the OG millennial contingent of Harry Potter’s fandom, this is not a fringe issue. And for some people, her views will have no bearing on whether they buy the game. Many people out there are likely unaware of what Rowling says on Twitter, and what Twitter says about her. ‘There is no LGB without the T’ … Sebastian Croft, an actor who worked on Hogwarts Legacy. For more on that, especially as it intersects with Hogwarts Legacy, read this breakdown by media critic Jessie Earl, who writes about transgender topics. If you’re wondering why Rowling’s comments on this issue have attracted so much attention, consider the climate they’re feeding into. (Rowling played no part in its creation developer Avalanche consulted closely with her team.) The discourse made it on to BBC Radio 4 last week, and has been covered by the Times, the Mail and Sky – another beat in the endless media culture war that trans people have been subjected to.

(This is a pretty comprehensive breakdown of what she has publicly said.) As someone who unequivocally supports trans rights, Rowling’s comments have soured and complicated my relationship with Harry Potter – and I am far from alone.ĭiscussions of the ethics of buying the game have generated thousands of tweets, many loudly calling for a boycott, others wrestling with financially supporting it. But like the rest of the Wizarding World, including the ailing Fantastic Beasts franchise, Hogwarts Legacy has become caught up in the controversy surrounding JK Rowling’s statements about sex and gender. I ’ve spent the past week playing and reviewing Hogwarts Legacy, an exercise in wizarding wish-fulfilment that would once have been a no-brainer purchase for anyone who grew up fantasising about walking the hallowed halls of that imaginary castle.

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