It seems like forever since I’ve sat down and written a post here. Probably because it has. I have meant to post sooner, but my depression has not been kind to me, and given the state of things, I wasn’t sure that it was the time. However, I find I needed a release from all the bad news and so…here I am. My first post and I am going to touch on JK Rowling. It’s not a secret that I absolutely love Harry Potter. Nor will it ever change. Now, before you get to thinking that I’m about to defend Jo’s comments, I assure you that I am not.
I am an open person. I accept people for who they are. Black, white, blue, green with yellow spots, LGBTQ+, able-bodied, disabled, et cetera. I believe people need to live their truth. Thus, I stand with Transgender people. It isn’t cliche, it isn’t a person just changing themselves because they can. They suffer greatly and I don’t imagine anyone would choose a life where they’d have all the vitriol thrown at them. As Daniel Radcliffe said in his piece of the The Trevor Project, there are many more educated people on the topic and I highly recommend you looking them up. It’s not just a phase.
According to The Trevor Project, 78% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity. It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.
To you, Jo Rowling, you are someone I used to admire. Your imagination is a thing of legend and I do thank you for sharing it with the world. I am forever appreciative of that. However, that is where my admiration ends. Because you have a cruel streak in you that would make Voldemort proud.
I am disappointed. That word seems so useless in my trying to properly articulate how I feel, what I think. I don’t understand how you can be so willfully ignorant to all the information that is available for you to read. We live in a digital age. Research! That you keep your mind so closed and one tracked is (again, this word) disappointing, to put it mildly. It’s also disgusting that you are being ignorant to the pain that your words are causing. Millions of us took you at your word that Hogwarts would always be there to welcome us home…yet the more you show your ignorance and cruelty, Hogwarts no longer feels welcome to many.
I take back the Voldemort remark. You’re more Umbridge. Thinking you’re right, not hearing the voices of your fans. You believe your way to be the truth and you won’t hear reason. You’re an intelligent woman. Get your head out of the days of pearl clutching. We’re all trying to survive but for persecuted people, its 24/7. There’s no break.
I’m not transgender and I personally find it devastating that you’re saying such dreadful things. Your saying that you have trans friends is the equivalent to a racist saying, “but I have black friends.” It’s never a good look.
Whilst Jo did write and create the Wizarding World, what it has become is because of the love and passion we have for it. She may be a bigot, but the experience we have had is ours. She can’t take that away. Daniel, again, said it best.
To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you. If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.
Perhaps she ought to read her own books. Learn empathy and also to remember that people are different. Our hearts do beat as one. But we all live differently. Our experiences make us unique, and that should be celebrated. I love everything that makes us different. I am forever in awe. Please keep being YOU. Don’t allow ignorant people to ruin things for you.
To my trans, LGBTQ followers, I am sorry you suffer as you do. But I am an ALLY. I am here for you. You are not alone.
What are your thoughts? Let me know! Stay safe and I missed you! 💋
Escapement – An Exquisite Tale of Love and Passion
Clarissa Reads It All. 