‘Harry Potter and the Transgender Witch’ fan spin-off brings much-needed trans representation to Hogwarts
Harry Potter is getting a trans-led fan spin-off. (Warner Bros)
A new stop motion animation series is bringing trans representation to Hogwarts in spite of JK Rowling’s “hurtful” comments about the community.
There has been widespread dismay among LGBT+ Harry Potter fans since Rowling shared a lengthy essay detailing her views on transgender rights on her website last year.
Now, one trans fan has responded in the best possible way – by voicing a trans character in a new web series, titled Lego Harry Potter and the Transgender Witch.
The 10-episode parody series, which is released weekly on YouTube, has allowed trans woman Donato Fatuesi to bring trans representation to the series she loved so much growing up.
“[I was] hugely upset to learn about how this author who built this magical world could have such harmful views,” Fatuesi told The Seattle Times.
“Her views seemed to single out and attack trans women, like myself, and it was really hurtful. It really has harmed my relationship to how I view these stories.”
LGBT+ fans ‘questioned’ fandom over JK Rowling comments
The series, created by Theatre Battery, a group based in Kent, Washington, follows Quincy Blueburger (Fatuesi) who goes to Hogwarts only to find that the school is not quite as welcoming as she might have hoped.
Logan Ellis, artistic director with the company, decided to create his own Harry Potter web series when he and regular collaborator Kait Mahoney listened to Rowling’s audiobooks at the start of the pandemic.
Harry Potter fans were left “questioning” their place within the fandom after Rowling released her essay about the trans community, Mahoney said.
Ellis said he isn’t worried about legal implications as Lego Harry Potter and the Transgender Witch is a parody of Rowling’s world – and it is being made on a not-for-profit basis.
“If there was a legal conflict that were to arise because of this, my curiosity would be to find out what distinguishes our project from the myriad other similar parodies that exist,” Ellis told The Seattle Times.
