‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Leaves Some Gamers Conflicted Over Rowling’s Trans Views
Harry Potter fans have been waiting more than a decade for a video game worthy of the blockbuster entertainment franchise's dedicated following. They've dreamed of being able to inhabit a realistic version of the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sipping butterbeers at the Gryffindor dormitory in between jaunts to the nearby village of Hogsmeade.
That vision will become a reality on Friday when Hogwarts Legacy is released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game is one of the most highly anticipated of 2023 and if pre-orders are any indication, it will likely be one of the most profitable, too. But the views about transgender people espoused by J.K. Rowling, the author of the original book series, have cast a shadow over the launch and left some longtime fans wondering whether they'll even play it. Many say they've struggled to reconcile their love of the fantasy world to which they've become so attached with the real-world politics of its creator.
Rowling began to promulgate views that were widely perceived as transphobic in 2018, “liking” a post on Twitter that said trans women are “men in dresses,” and following certain commentators who described transgender women as men. Then, in the summer of 2020, Rowling wrote a 3,700-word essay on sex and gender issues, saying she refused to “bow down to a movement that I believe is doing ‘demonstrable harm' to women.” In the months that followed, Rowling spoke out against Scottish legislation that would make it easier for people to change their gender on their birth certificate.
Fans like Max Grosshandler, 25, whose sister is transgender, didn't know how to feel. “It was a world-crushing experience for me,” he said. “I was just shocked and appalled.”
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