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@fastfinge Are we really marking anything remotely related to harry Potter as transphobic? That feels like going a bit far. I welcome disagreement from someone who has more skin in the game but I feel like it promotes the idea that supporting anything related to Harry Potter is also supporting the author as a person. Nothing about this post is transphobic, unless the fanfic is, which is something we'd probably want to know.

@simon Yes. anything related to Harry Potter is deeply transphobic. The worldview of the author is the worldview of the work.

@fastfinge @simon I'd call that a bit more than a stretch. What about works with trans Harry Potter characters, like this one? https://archiveofourown.org/works/63076057. Or this one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60783364. Or this one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31237217. I can go on.

@jscholes @TheQuinbox @simon Okay, let's start with the ways that a particular worldview is reflected in Harry Potter. , as a practicing Christian, I'm well grounded in fundamentalist beliefs. While Harry Potter was condemned by unthinking religious reactionaries, it is utterly, utterly soaking in both the good and true parts of the Christian faith, as well as the worst of our hatred and misguided heresy. From the Goblins that are obvious antisemitic Jew stand-ins (they have long noses and fingers, control all the money, have to be kept down to prevent rebellion, etc.) to the way the entire story depends on the existence of the soul (and a morality beyond death), to the pro-slavery allegory of house-elves ("Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart." -- Ephesians 6:5), to the way the only gay characters are either celibate or evil (Dumbledore, the celibate good gay and priest stand-in has to defeat Gellert Grindelwald, the evil gay), to the way the entire story is rooted in medieval alchemy and the concept of the alchemists journey of purification through Christe's refining fire. Without both the good and terrible of Christianity, you don't get Harry Potter. And it's not possible to remove that baggage from it. If that's something that interests you, I strongly recommend the book How Harry Cast His Spell by John Granger.

@jscholes @TheQuinbox @simon Now onto the aspects of safety. JKR spends the majority of her time posting on social media, and fundraising, for anti-transe causes. While she continues to do this, and remains in the forefront of the media and cultural zeitgeist, unexpected mentions of people enjoying works based on JKR's original books could absolutely be psychologically damaging. Especially if you grew up loving Harry Potter, as I and so many millions did, only to discover you're trans as an adult, and were betrayed by the author of a work you hold dear. If you love Harry Potter as much as I still do (and wish I didn't), those feelings of betrayal and grief aren't going to fade quickly. Especially because as someone who isn't trans, I still get to enjoy those things without that personal baggage. So I'm sure there's also some bitterness and Jealousy to go along with everything else. And yet, I, and many others, aren't going to just give up Harry Potter, a friend we've had from childhood. But the verry least we can do is CW discussion of the works.

@jscholes @TheQuinbox @simon The various rationality cults, breeding hypocritical ideas like effective altruism and worse, are the biggest threat both to Christianity and the human race today. But most Christians are too busy fighting the gays and trans people to see what's coming as more and more of these people come to power. And, of course, banning stuff like Harry Potter because reasons, when it's way closer to the worldview of the people banning it than anything written in the past 50 years. Oh, good grief. I'm ranting. I could honestly do this for hours and hours. I'll stop, now. Thanks for listening to my TED talk. I sure am fun at parties! But the way people fail to understand Harry Potter always gets me going. And that always leads to me ranting about Methods of Rationality.