JK Rowling’s Harry Potter play wished everyone a ‘happy Pride Month’ and it backfired, badly
JK Rowling attends the press preview of ‘Harry Potter and The Cursed Child” at Palace Theatre on July 30, 2016 in London, England. (Rob Stothard/Getty Images)
The New York and San Francisco productions of JK Rowling’s play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child wished fans happy Pride month. It didn’t go down well.
On Monday (6 June), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child‘s New York City and San Francisco Twitter accounts posted: “Happy Pride Month from everyone at #CursedChild!”
Alongside the tweet was a graphic featuring the Progress Pride flag, which includes the colours of the trans Pride flag, and the post had Twitter users speculating about possible names for a sequel to the play, for example Harry Potter and the Read The F**king Room, or Harry Potter and the Audacity of This S**t.
publicly condemn JKR's bigotry and donate to orgs actively supporting the lives of trans+ people
— take another little reece of my heart now baby 💕 (@connolly_reece) June 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/IndustrialPet/status/1534188692281204739
https://twitter.com/Z_R1Nzoe/status/1534481924336586753
Funnily enough, the London production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child made no mention of Pride, and JK Rowling herself has remained silent.
Actor Anthony Rapp pointed out: “This tweet is the epitome of cowardice masquerading as allyship. The ultimate in virtue-signalling.
“The folks producing this show have yet to openly condemn the monstrously damaging and violent words and deeds of its playwright. Will they donate to and amplify trans rights orgs?”
This tweet is the epitome of cowardice masquerading as allyship. The ultimate in virtue signaling. The folks producing this show have yet to openly condemn the monstrously damaging & violent words & deeds of its playwright. Will they donate to & amplify trans rights orgs? https://t.co/1Vehmb7ZfT— Anthony Rapp SAG-AFTRA National Board Member (@albinokid) June 8, 2022
Playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm suggested: “Donate every bit of profit you make this month to trans rights charities to counteract the harm that JK has done otherwise this means nothing.”
Despite the searing backlash, at the time of writing both tweets are still up, and the accounts have simply limited replies.
Since Rowling went public with her views about trans people and their rights, many LGBTQ+ Harry Potter fans have distanced themselves from the franchise, and from putting money in Rowling’s pocket.
Harry Potter Theatrical Productions Ltd was founded by Rowling in 2013 to oversee productions of her play globally. According to the company’s most recent available accounts, the company’s turnover was more than £10million in 2020, a year when most theatres were closed due to COVID-19, and almost £13million in 2019.
In March, Rowling claimed that “innumerable gay people” agree with her views about trans people, and she sparked a trend for LGBTQ+ Twitter users across the globe to tweet “JK Doesn’t Speak For Me“.
PinkNews has approached JK Rowling and Wizarding World for comment.
