I See Me

"I See Me" is a collaborative social media campaign about creating more representation in our favourite stories. It's an initiative of The Deluminators, Sydney chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance, but aims to bring together lots of people from the huge community that is the Harry Potter fandom! The world of Harry Potter is full of beautiful diversity and this project aims to capture the good that positive representation can do in our pop culture. We're calling all artists who love Harry Potter and see themselves in characters even when it's not in the canon (or not explicitly in the canon!) to contribute to this project so that together we can create an archive of characters that the under-represented can relate to. Read more about the Deluminators and this project on the Who We Are tab!

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Remus Lupin and Sirius Black 

Artwork created and donated by smelslikeart

“Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.”

Remus and Sirius were the power couple we deserved in the Harry Potter series, written between the lines but still as obvious as Harry’s eye colour. Harry’s Godfather(s) could have been an amazing representation of queer love throughout a lifetime, from high school sweethearts separated by a tragic scandal and reunited when the truth was finally understood, to a couple living together in secret while they were hunted in the war, until Sirius lost his life, and Remus was able to move on though it was never truly without guilt (these are all confirmed facts if we’re being honest). Rowling confirmed that Lupin’s lycanthropy was a metaphor for illnesses that carry a stigma, like the HIV AIDS virus that many still face stigma over but had an especially tremendous impact on the gay community in the 80s, the time when Remus would have been in his twenties. Sirius’s disownment from the pureblood bigoted Black family also fits perfectly into a queer narrative (Walburga Black would definitely not have reacted well to “this is Remus Lupin, my half-blood werewolf boyfriend”), especially if you also consider the long hair and constant rebellion. Regardless of how Sirius and Remus can be headcanoned to identify in terms of sexuality and gender, it’s an unspoken truth of the books that their relationship and their love was more than platonic. So that aside, we should probably address the real question here; who won the betting pool in Gryffindor house over when the two queer Marauders would finally tell each other how they feel?

Creating more diverse characters in mainstream media is such a simple way to empower those in marginalised groups. Thus, The Deluminators present our young Sirius and Remus - in love.

~ DISCLAIMER: The Deluminators would like to stress that we do not endorse smoking in any way. Its featuring in this image is era appropriate and fits into the headcanon of the artist, but we would like to emphasise that this post is in support of queer love and representation, and not cigarettes or smoking. ~

Representation matters.

Hogwarts would be a Safe School.

~ Resources ~

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The Deluminators will always be a safe space for diversity and for every identity, and we hope to always be inclusive. If you see anything in these posts that concerns you or you feel to be incorrect/offensive, please let us know.

This post is part of the ‘I See Me’ Project run by The Deluminators, aimed to create more representation and diversity in the Harry Potter Series so that young people especially can literally see themselves in the characters.

For more, see rainbowdeluminators.tumblr.com

[rainbowdeluminators-blog]

Bi Ginny Weasley

Artwork created and donated by carolsdrawing 

Ginny Weasley is another character in the Harry Potter universe that fan’s head-canon as bisexual. It fits in with her character and would enrich her storyline and character development. Your identity does not disappear if you are in a passing straight or gay relationship - something we envision bi harry and bi ginny having long chats about. Seeing more explicitly LGBTI+ characters in our favourite stories has huge positive impacts on the real lives of LGBTI+ individuals. It’s easy to head-canon characters that are not explicitly any identity to fit into categories like bisexuality, but this still has nothing on true representation, and we’re keen for a future that gives us explicit bisexual representation.

Creating more diverse characters in mainstream media is such a simple way to empower those in marginalised groups. Thus, The Deluminators present our bisexual Ginny Weasley. 

Representation matters.

Hogwarts would be a Safe School.

~ Resources ~

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The Deluminators will always be a safe space for diversity and for every identity, and we hope to always be inclusive. If you see anything in these posts that concerns you or you feel to be incorrect/offensive, please let us know.

This post is part of the ‘I See Me’ Project run by The Deluminators, aimed to create more representation and diversity in the Harry Potter Series so that young people especially can literally see themselves in the characters.

For more, see rainbowdeluminators.tumblr.com

[rainbowdeluminators-blog]

Albus and Scorpius

Thank you for the artwork created and donated by sorenlovinsen

“Find him Scorpius. You two - you belong together.” - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Scorpius and Albus develop a meaningful and loving relationship over the course of the new play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Their love is tested and trialled, some don’t want them to be together, some tell them not to let each other go. Only problem for this potentially great representation is that they’re not actually canon dating. Canon gay relationships are a rare treasure, and many of the fans feel that Cursed Child missed a perfect opportunity to feature a healthy gay relationship in a hugely popular, loved franchise. Or, if not a relationship itself, the beginning of a relationship or a childhood crush that could develop into more. But despite this disappointment, the fans can still use their imagination and fandom’s safe spaces to envision the relationships that should have been, and hence, behold - Scorpius and Albus!

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The Deluminators will always be a safe space for diversity and for every identity, and we hope to always be inclusive. If you see anything in these posts that concerns you or you feel to be incorrect/offensive, please let us know.

This post is part of the ‘I See Me’ Project run by The Deluminators, aimed to create more representation and diversity in the Harry Potter Series so that young people especially can literally see themselves in the characters.

For more, see rainbowdeluminators.tumblr.com

[rainbowdeluminators-blog]

Asexual Luna Lovegood

Artwork created and donated by strawberrychrisses

"Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am." - Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to anyone. Often mistaken for celibacy, asexuality is not a conscious decision, and like most sexual minorities, faces discrimination from those who don't understand it. The A in LGBTQIA+ stands for both Asexual (a blanket term for the spectrum also including aromantics, agenders, and demisexuals) and Allies, and even within the LGBTQIA+ community it is sometimes dismissed  by those unaware of Asexuality, and instead assumed to stand only for Allies.

When a character's sexuality is never addressed in a story, it gives the reader the freedom  to see that character however they please, thus creating headcanons of our own that are more relatable (i.e. Asexual Luna). However, more explicitly mentioning a character's sexuality especially if LGBTQIA+ can add an even more positive layer of power to those oppressed who otherwise do not get acceptable amounts of representation. With more sexually diverse characters represented in our favourite stories, the general public are more likely to accept and show understanding of diversity in the real world too. Asexual Luna could and should have been canon.

Representation matters.

Hogwarts would be a Safe School.

~ Resources ~

For more information on asexuality/the ace spectrum visit:  asexuality.org

Text written by strawberrychrisses

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The Deluminators will always be a safe space for diversity and for every identity, and we hope to always be inclusive. If you see anything in these posts that concerns you or you feel to be incorrect/offensive, please let us know.

This post is part of the ‘I See Me’ Project run by The Deluminators, aimed to create more representation and diversity in the Harry Potter Series so that young people especially can literally see themselves in the characters.

For more, see rainbowdeluminators.tumblr.com

[rainbowdeluminators-blog]

Bi Harry Potter

"Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen." - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Art created and donated by jam-art

Bisexuality /Biromanticism is the attraction to two genders, OR  the attraction to the same gender and gender(s) different from your own. Bisexuals not only deal with homophobia from the general public, but also biphobia, even from within the LGBTI+ community.

Many people identify with characters who, while given only het-relationships in canon plot-lines, are not explicitly straight. These characters, like Harry for example, have personalities and experiences that are relatable and allow for the ‘head-canon’ of bisexuality.

Seeing more explicitly LGBTI+ characters in our favourite stories has huge positive impacts on the real lives of LGBTI+ individuals. Racially diverse LGBTI+ characters are even rarer in popular media, and their real life counterparts are even more marginalised, making it even more important we increase their representation.

Creating more diverse characters in mainstream media is such a simple way to empower those in marginalised groups. Thus, The Deluminators present our biracial bisexual Harry Potter.

Representation matters.

Hogwarts would be a Safe School.

~ Resources ~

~~~~

The Deluminators will always be a safe space for diversity and for every identity, and we hope to always be inclusive. If you see anything in these posts that concerns you or you feel to be incorrect/offensive, please let us know.

This post is part of the ‘I See Me’ Project run by The Deluminators, aimed to create more representation and diversity in the Harry Potter Series so that young people especially can literally see themselves in the characters. 

For more, see rainbowdeluminators.tumblr.com