J.K. Rowling is likely ‘inconsolable’ over the news that the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington, has removed any trace of her from its hall of fame and Harry Potter exhibit. The action was taken over her stance that biological sex is real, a position deemed beyond the pale. The Telegraphhas more.
Rowling has received online abuse for her opinions on transgender issues after arguing that women should not be ousted from their jobs for believing biological sex is real.
While MoPOP continues to display memorabilia from the Harry Potter films, which are adapted from Rowling’s most famous novels, an article by its exhibitions project manager confirms references to the franchise’s creator are no longer included.
The museum doubled down on its decision on Saturday, saying it “unequivocally stands with nonbinary and transgender communities”.
Chris Moore, who is transgender and uses ‘he/they’ pronouns, wrote in the 1,400-word piece: “There’s a certain cold, heartless, joy-sucking entity in the world of Harry Potter and, this time, it is not actually a Dementor.
“This certain person is a bit too vocal with her super hateful and divisive views to be ignored… Her transphobic viewpoints are front and centre these days, but we can’t forget all the other ways that she’s problematic.”
Explaining the removal of Rowling from MoPOP’s hall of fame, Moore wrote: “For the time being, the curators decided to remove any of her artefacts from this gallery to reduce her impact. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s what we were able to do in the short-term while determining long-term practices.”
On the author’s induction in 2018, a year before she first publicly expressed her views on trans issues, MoPOP described the Harry Potter books as “beloved” and published a three-paragraph biography of Rowling outlining her literary achievements.
In his post, Moore also accused Rowling of “fat-shaming”, a “lack of LGBTQIA+ representation” and using “racial stereotypes” in her books.
“We learned that [Rowling] was a problem, which is why you’ll see the artefacts without any mention or image of the author,” he said. After all, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are all incredibly vocal allies.”
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