Hi I have a question. How do you square writing/enjoying HP fanfic with the Problematic Author and how she uses her influence? This is not snarky at all, I am genuinely curious because I’ve been able to comfortably do so for a long time as Author doesn’t make anything off of fanfic and I can make the characters as queer as I want or give actual depth, redemption, and pathos to Draco. And now I’m lost. Thank you if you answer. I love your writing so much!
i think a lot of people are wrestling with this question right now, nonny, so you are in good company, if that can be a kind of cold comfort. if, however, you were hoping i had some secret silver bullet to alleviate bad feelings, i’m afraid i don’t—only a collection of thoughts, which may or may not help you sift through yours.
it feels prudent to begin with the obvious here: the author has not recently become terrible. even in the hp books themselves, bigotry of all sorts is on the page, right there in black and white—and it’s not solely from the antagonists of the series. this wasn’t a scooby doo-style villain reveal: it was the logical culmination of a decade of transphobic hate rhetoric.
the uk supreme court decision is devastating, not only because it is shunting the nation backwards with respect to trans rights, but also because that decision will trickle down through other countries as anti-trans rhetoric rises. historically, that sort of development has a domino effect—legislation to restrict queer rights, legislation that will harm both cis women and gnc people, legislation that will further entrench wealth gaps largely to the detriment of people of color.
caring for our trans community members is the perfect example of how the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats” can be true. trans people often exist at the interstices of multiple marginalized identities, and by making the world equitable, accessible, and safe for trans folks, we attend to the needs of the citizenry as a whole.
for us, the easiest way to hurt the intended transphobic crusade is to stop putting money towards the hp series. personally, i have not bought anything hp related in about a decade and i plan to keep that streak going. at the individual level, it may not feel like much, but enough of us have done so that the brand has lost power. we know this bc they don’t trot the author out when they release their video games or announce developments for the tv series that she’s going to be executive producer on. wb studios fully abandoned the back half of the fantastic beasts films because they were bad, yes, and also because jkr had become pr poison.
in regards to fandom, over the past few days i have seen a wide range of responses, all the way from “i can no longer write anything related to hp” to “i am here to write things that would piss her off”—and i think those feelings, and the spectrum of sentiments between them, are all reasonable. the only sentiment i do not think is acceptable is one of indifference hiding behind a “separate the art from the artist” line of logic. as someone much smarter than me put it, “separate the art from the artist” is often used as a bromide to protect ourselves from having tough conversations about whether that nastiness was in the art all along. in this case, it was.
that being said, i do think there is room for nuance here in that fanfic is free and generates no income for the author. that’s not to handwave this problem, however: i also think that fandom is political, and how we engage in it shows what we believe. as senlinyu once put it, fanfic can be your 95 theses nailed to the wittenberg door. it can be your phd dissertation on all the ways the original ip falls short. it can be your Bad Feelings Box—the place where you are sorting through your own emotions and what you’re learning and processing as you grow. it can be playing with barbies in a way that celebrates the beauty of the queer community, that demonstrates the richness of disability culture, that upholds the dignity of trans people, that puts characters of color front and center.
when i write fanfic, i do so in the fullness of my queer identity. with rare exceptions of the narratively-necessary variety, everyone is welcoming and affirming. and, besides my advent piece which was a game of word count chess, i very intentionally include trans characters in all of my hp fics who range from background characters, to characters who show up for one or two scenes, to characters who are integral parts of the story. regardless of which category they fall into, my trans characters are (if i’ve done my job right) imbued with the dignity, hotness, interiority, and power they deserve. that is my fanfic level of rebellion.
i also pair that with my real life activism, which is in the classroom. my time and efforts are spent trying to cultivate the skills of critical thinking, metacognition, and empathy in my students. i’m not 100% effective at it—would that i could be!!—but training the next generation to think beyond their own experiences and to understand how they have power that can make the world a better place is my activist project. for better or for worse, my work is there, and my Work is there, as well.
for me, knowing that i’m doing all that i personally can to combat transphobia and make the world a better, fairer, kinder place is enough.
it may be that it is not enough for some people, and i think that’s understandable, too. if this is your line in the sand moment, it is a 100% reasonable one. the uk supreme court decision was bought and paid for with nefarious intent and celebrated with malicious glee. it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or powerless in a moment like this, and taking a stand by saying “i won’t engage with this any longer” is one way combat that.
at times when i feel powerless, i volunteer. i put my money, time, and talents where my yapping mouth is. i go back to the words of my queer ancestors, whose bravery and defiance allow me to sit here, making my little stories, living my gay life. without indomitable trans women like marsha p johnson and sylvia rivera, i would never have been able to marry my spouse, to know that we will have access to gender-affirming care, or to know that when one of us passes, the other will be legally recognized as next of kin. but honoring the queer liberation movement and their tenacity with where i spend my time, my income, is only part of the equation: educating myself, getting involved in my community, and contributing to the cause of revolution are the other, more long term, less glamorous, and equally crucial parts.
there is no liberation without trans and queer liberation. no freedom without a free palestine. no equality without equity. all these struggles are connected.
all that to say: i think that feeling like you can no longer tolerate any participation in hp fandom is a reasonable and valid response, just as i think that spite-writing gayer, more trans-celebratory fic is a reasonable and valid response, too. only you can decide what will allow you to look in the mirror and still be at peace with yourself and your actions.
us trans advocacy orgs:
comprehensive article with orgs in all 50 states, including mutual aid funds: https://www.them.us/story/orgs-fighting-back-anti-trans-legislation
the org i donate to monthly is the trevor project:https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
trans lifeline also enormously important now that the us is cutting funding for the 988 hotline’s lgbtqia+ program: https://translifeline.org/volunteer/
uk trans advocacy orgs:
https://www.transunite.co.uk/
uk mermaids: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/
