J.K. Rowling’s transphobia has caused another round of online unrest surrounding Hogwarts Legacy
Popular, left-leaning subreddit r/GamingCircleJerk recently faced an explosion of anti-Hogwarts Legacy sentiment after moderator GrizzlyPeak72 posted a photo of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and art from the game with the message: “a friendly reminder from your modteam that this woman is a TERF and anyone who pledges to support her monetarily is also a transphobe.”
TERF is the abbreviation for “trans exclusionary radical feminist,” or a self-proclaimed feminist who only wants to focus on the issues of cisgender women and is anywhere from indifferent to actively hostile towards transgender people. It’s much more common for these people to be on the hostile side of the spectrum, taking actions like harassing people in bathrooms or exposing themselves with a pubic wig in front of an audience at the Scottish parliament.
Rowling has actively aligned herself with these beliefs since at least 2020, when she mocked a news article for using gender inclusive language and then later doubled down. She has continued to lean into these beliefs since, leading the stars of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films like Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Eddie Redmayne to speak out against her statements about trans people, though Redmayne went on to defend Rowling from what he dubbed “disgusting backlash,” over her transphobic sentiments. Rowling isn’t the only dark, right-wing cloud hanging over this game, however. Did You Know Gaming’s Liam Robertson brought to light the fact that the game’s former lead designer Troy Leavitt ran a reactionary, alt-right YouTube channel attacking social justice and feminism for over a year. Leavitt stepped down from the project due to the backlash from the discovery of these videos.
Like the name implies, r/GamingCircleJerk is largely a subreddit dedicated to poking fun at the often aggro and right-leaning impulses of the gaming community. The subreddit’s tagline, written in a rainbow font, is “everybody is welcome except gamers.” Most posts on there are jokes, but occasionally like with GrizzlyPeak72’s post, things get more serious. According to Kotaku, GrizzlyPeak72 told them that over 1,000 transphobes were banned from the subreddit following this post. Other members of the group have stated they will simply pirate the game if they decide they want to play it.
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