J.K. Rowling: The Blatant Transphobia Of A Beloved Social Justice Hero
In case you are one of the very few needing a reminder, Harry Potter is the titular character in a series of seven bestselling books that took the world by storm. Spawning movies based on the material, toys, plays, spinoffs and even a themed attraction at Universal Studios. The mastermind behind the magic is J.K. Rowling, a 52 year old woman from England who changed the terrain of the literary landscape when, entrenched in crippling poverty, she scribbled the synopsis for a book about a child wizard on a napkin in a local coffee shop. That was where it all began.
The story of the little Wizard that would rise to defeat the very embodiment of oppression, intolerance and evil embedded itself so deeply in our culture that kids and adults alike found themselves bombarding the Official Website to ask the famous Sorting Hat- a talking hat which one places on their head as it determines which of the mystical Houses ensconced within the walls of the famous School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hogwarts, they will be assigned to. It manifested a world where oddities, misfits and those who had been ‘othered’ by societal demands, expectations and traditions finally…
