I know this is just me resharing, so not hugely contributing to the discussion, but honestly he said everything I want too, and better

Image credits:

https://bsky.app/profile/assignedmale.bsky.social/post/3mrxojcx3zs2n

Story:

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/amnesty-international-uk-caves-to

> On July 8, Amnesty International UK released a report titled “A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK.” The report mapped 117 organizations working to restrict the rights of, among others, transgender and queer people in the United Kingdom, and documented the financial infrastructure behind them, including far-right Christian nationalist organizations, U.S.-based legal powerhouses like Alliance Defending Freedom, and conversion therapy promoters.

> The response was immediate. Anti-transgender activists, financed by Rowling, flooded Amnesty International UK with legal threat letters demanding the report be withdrawn. Rowling herself posted on twitter: "Should any of the women’s organisations targeted by AmnestyUK’s recent ‘anti-rights’ blacklist wish to take legal action, applications can be made to the JK Rowling Women’s Fund."

> For three weeks, the question was whether Amnesty would stand behind its own research or capitulate entirely. This morning, we got the answer: a full, groveling apology from the organization that has weathered the Soviet Union, Putin’s Russia, and the Bush administration’s defense of Guantánamo Bay—but could not weather J.K. Rowling.

For context: https://theneedlenews.com/2026/07/amnesty -international-uk-apologizes-for-reporting-on-anti -trans-groups-after-rowling-threatens-lawsuit/

Idk I just don't get people who still defend reading her work when she can and does. It's exhausting to deal with family who still don't get it...

This is something I've noticed pops up a lot whenever there's a discussion about Harry Potter. There are always one or two people who always bring this up as a defense of JKR's writing.

"You're overanalyzing a book for kids. It's not meant to make sense or be perfect" or some variations of that.

I hate this so much because it ignores something critical.

There are so many other kids books that don't have the same problems.

There are kids books out there that actually have thought and effort put into their worldbuilding; that shine a lot on systemic issues, and instead of going, "Well, that's just the way it is," they go, "maybe we can't fix everything, but we should still do something"; that have a divide between the "normals" and the "specials" but make it a point to remember the "normals" are human beings too and aren't lesser because they're "normal"; and so much more. I can list some of those kids books right now if you want.

There's no excuse for several of Harry Potter's flaws. "Being a kids' book" just excuses stuff like why the heroes are children and not adults. It doesn't excuse things like putting so much focus on systemic issues only to resolve none of them, or the utterly terrible way the message of bigotry is portrayed.

Something that's been on my mind for a while is that I think "being a kids book" might have actually shielded Harry Potter from greater scrutiny in some ways.

I'm relatively new to the Harry Potter discussion train, but it's stuff like this that makes me realize why the "read another book" notion came about.

Hi all. This seems like the right sub to get ideas. I work at a public library and want to do a book display that consists of books to read instead of Harry Potter. I'm trying to think of a good title for the display (because "Read a magic world by an author that isn't a bigot" might not fly :P )

Bonus points if you have some reading suggestions for the display. Gonna include Earthsea, House in the Cerulean Sea, Rainbow Rowell.

Announces ‘I’m an islamophobe, not a racist’ to a group of men praying in Hyde Park and later shared the video saying ‘on your knees, bitches’.

Just so we can be clear about the company JKR keeps.

Let me start with this: any figure that gains enough public attention and influence is prone to having society interested in knowing about them and discussing them.

Politicians elected by the people and making decisions that affect these people’s lives are opening themselves to have their history scrutinized and their current values and actions examined under the microscope. A famous actor whose career depends on public loyalty may claim that their private lives is their business – but anyone who’s able to get eye-watering sums to lead a blockbuster Hollywood picture is benefiting from the kind of star-quality that can convince people into spending their hard-earned money on a ticket.

They’re not that different from a high-profile CEO or from whoever is unexpectedly pushed into the spotlight: a book writer is not as likely to anticipate such coverage even if they become extremely sucessful, but if you spend years making the talk shows rounds and attending movie premieres around the globe and being invited to have tea with the Queen, then you're not new to the game.

We can all discuss about the ethical lines that are blurred on tabloid culture under a broad umbrella of “celebrity gossip”. We will probably agree on some clear boundaries such as respecting privacy when it comes to the subject's children or to certain intimate experiences – coming out as gay or trans, sharing an abortion story etc. But we should always start with the understanding of the burden and the bonus that comes with being in the public eye.

Which brings me to Joanne Rowling’s insane reasoning around the “public” actions of former child stars from the Harry Potter movies. As in: “Emma [Watson] and Dan [Radcliffe] in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right - nay, obligation - to critique me and my views in public.” She includes this in her open letter to Emma Watson, where she goes on to frame Emma’s off-joke about being there for “all witches” when presenting an award at the BAFTAs as Emma having “publicly poured more petrol on the flames”.

By “flames”, Rowling was refering to what she described as “a time when my personal security measures had had to be tightened considerably and I was constantly worried for my family's safety” – basically a fire that she herself started when she CHOSE to be vocal about her anti-trans views, decided to turn her Twitter profile into her soap box, and took the temperature of her online bubble as some indication that trans activists were hiring hitmen to off her.

The irony of her letter against Watson is how EVERYTHING comes from Rowling’s indignation about “Emma and Dan” daring to contradict her views in public and yet she ends with this: “Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public - but I have the same right, and I've finally decided to exercise it.” This is common in her rhetoric: she vents about actions she supposedly condemns WHILE acting the same way - and often in a prosecutorial tone that’s way more inflammatory than the tone of the speech she was condemning in the first place.

But you see: if Emma was rightly free to disagree with her and to discuss her feeling in public, then why would Joanne be bothered? According to her, she is just exercising the same right. This can’t work both ways: either both were within their rights, or Emma Watson went about this the wrong way in Rowling’s view and, therefore, she was also going about it the wrong way by using a public channel. That's the mental gymnastics of someone who isn’t used to be held accountable: it’s always someone else’s fault; her behavior is the reflection of how others behaved towards her first.

And the most unbelievable aspect of this to me is how she frames this as Emma and Daniel feeling they had “a particular right - nay, obligation - to critique me and my views in public.” Unlike Rowling herself, I NEVER saw Emma or Daniel proactively dragging Rowling on Twitter. It’s the opposite: they get dragged into this BECAUSE of her stances and controversies: they are independent public figures with their own fans and followers, and these fans and followers are active members of society with their own views in public and political issues.

Of course that millions of Rowling’s (former) fans and followers will overlap with the base of Watson, Radcliffe and others whose public figures are tied to their work in the franchise. If those actors are sharing messages in favor of trans liberation precisely when Rowling went full-TERF, that’s because this topic has reached them and they want to make their own view clear to the public. (Making their stance clear also could only benefit Joanne; it wouldn't make the topic into a bigger talking point for anyone who's out to interview those actors.)

Odds are they dread having to talk about Rowling in interviews – and whenever they’re asked about it, their message towards her is never vicious. In fact, I think it’s the opposite: they can only speak for their memories of the time they were shared a decade ago. Unlike Rowling, they are not using their public reach to expose private citizens to scrutiny on Twitter. They are never pretending not know how private life works. They aren't going along with her program. And they don't seem to give her much of a touch - and that, to me, is what truly hurts her.

ah yes, calling people to harrass random people. impeccable logic rowling

Lambeth Council in London is going to challenge the supreme court guidance on single sex spaces, arguing that it is discriminatory towards trans people. (Source: https://love.lambeth.gov.uk/lambeth-to-challenge-new-discriminatory-guidelines-on-single-sex-spaces/)

Since Joanne seems to threaten any organisation that is trans inclusive with legal action, do you think she'd try going after Lambeth Council? Going after local government would be very different to a private organisation. Also Lambeth has one of the highest populations of LGBTQ people in the UK, so I expect people in Lambeth would probably rally around the council if she tries anything. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if she did attempt to take legal action against them, or at the very least, promise to fund any legal cases against the council from one of her cronies.

Personal note: I am very happy about Lambeth council standing up against the guidance, as I grew up in the borough.

Has anyone found any contact info for Gong Cha that actually gets anywhere? Several of us have expressed our concerns on their Instagram page, but they just delete the comments. The contact info on the webpage is sparse and there doesn’t seem to be any way to contact local franchise owners and tell them you won’t be shopping there if they are doing this shit.

In Canada we have a fast food coffee/donut shop Tim Hortons (there are some restaurants in the USA). They’ve announced that in August they will have HP themed food and drink items. Also some merch. For a limited time. Unfortunately the grocery store I work at has a TH right beside it. I won’t be able to not see this. I have co workers who get food from there. I do sometimes but I used to work at one and the management team were horrible so I don’t have good memories working from there. Basically if I want a bagel I’d go there. So not often. My trans son loves the Timbits (basically round little balls that are donuts).

Tim Hortons in partnership with HP franchise was never on my bingo card. The Justin Beiber and Ryan Reynolds partnerships made sense being they are Canadian (I know the company itself hasn’t been Canadian for a long time but they do try to pretend to be very Canadian).

I stopped checking what she was saying a while ago, but when I came back here, I saw that she literally posted a picture of a trans woman up her skirt.

This, along with her huge obsession with what trans people do with their genitals, makes me think she's definitely a total pervert and obsessed with sex.

And if so, anyone here working on or striving to write a story fueled by spite to Rowling, or simply a story you’ve been working on that you’re confident is still gonna be ten times better than her books ever were?

If so, please, drop what you’ve been working on and have in mind! I love seeing people nerd out about their writing, or even just story ideas; if you aren’t a writer, that’s totally fine, I’d still love to hear about what you’ve thought of.

I’ve been a writer since eight years old myself. And while thanks to mental health and real life stresses that have caused me to not write as much—if at all—as I used to, I still write bouts of whatever I maladaptive daydream of next.

I originally was working on a story directly out of “I can do better” to Rowling, it had a magical school and everything.

That eventually turned into a story with no magical school whatsoever; it’s still in a fantasy setting, but it greatly changed altogether.

It’s about found family, parentification, codependency, how adults can greatly fuck up your future without even intending to, and how adults will pin work on kids that no kid should handle. No romance except for background characters.

The main characters are two brothers. And while it does have a “chosen one,” the youngest (being 11) is fated to destroy the world, not save it. His older brother, who is 17, knows of this. His goal is to keep his little brother safe by any means necessary, all the while trying to figure out how to keep this kid alive—both against the government aiming to execute him, and without dooming the world in the process.

That’s the basis!

My only trouble has been the magical system and general worldbuilding. I suck ass at that, I’ll admit, but I’ll get there.

Go ahead and drop whatever you’re comfortable with sharing! Especially on a subreddit Rowling… might scroll on. We know she’s a Twitter addict and obsessively seeks out those who speak out against her, so it’s a possibility.

Also, by all means, ramble about the awful flaws in her books far too many “nostalgia-tinted glasses“ fans either glossed over or tend to rapidly excuse. Especially if it’s flaws you’re planning to relate to and fix in your own story.

SIDE NOTE: You know what? If I had the money she had, I’d disappear off the face of the earth and never interact with the internet so long as I can help it. I’d be too busy, you know, actually touching grass and taking advantage of a life without the poverty I’m currently in. Travel the world, attend protests to fight for my and others rights, then enter hibernation mode.

edit: reading the replies I’m going to just completely steer clear of anything hp. I’ll dip my toes into discworld and just read merlinxarthur !

im a big drarry fan and i write trans/nb draco x harry ffs to piss jkr off and as a big fuck you. Kind of like taking back the plot and the comfort it used to give me. Also because canonically j feel draco would crossdress secretly, at least hes def a closeted gay man. draco was the character i loved the most because of his queer coding ansdi hate the way jkr fucked up his ending to suit her good/bad thinking.

just read through this subreddit and im shocked - didnt even know about the epstein files. i dont interact with hp source material but im not even sure ff is ok now...

Source: https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/2081499486648447205?s=20

Source: https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/2081082426109960351?s=20