Seattle Museum of Pop Culture Airbrushes JK Rowling Out of Harry Potter Exhibit, Calling Her a “Cold, Heartless, Joy-Sucking Entity” Due to Transgender Opinions
A Seattle museum has removed JK Rowling from its hall of fame and Harry Potter exhibit for her gender-critical views.
Washington’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) lashed out at the famed author, accusing her of having “super hateful and divisive” opinions.
It defended its decision to remove all references to 58-year-old Rowling in a lengthy blog post on Saturday.
The museum still has Harry Potter memorabilia on display, but any mention of the author of the franchise has been airbrushed.
Rowling was criticized for her views on transgender issues after arguing that women should not be fired for believing biological sex is real.
A Seattle museum has removed JK Rowling from its hall of fame and Harry Potter exhibit for her gender-critical views
Washington’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) lashed out at the famed author, accusing her of having “super hateful and divisive” opinions
The museum still has Harry Potter memorabilia on display, but any mention of the author of the franchise has been brushed off
The exhibitions’ project manager, Chris Moore, who is transgender and uses the pronouns “he/she,” confirmed that the museum would no longer contain references to Rowling.
“There’s a certain cold, heartless, joy-sucking entity in the world of Harry Potter and this time it’s not quite a Dementor,” he wrote in a 1,400-word blog post on Saturday.
“We’d love to go along with the internet’s theory that these books were actually written without an author, but this particular person is a little too vocal with her super hateful and divisive views to ignore.”
Explaining the decision to airbrush her, Moore said, “For now, the curators have decided to remove all of her artifacts 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 establishing long-term practices.”
Rowling was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2018, a year before she first publicly expressed her views on trans issues.
The museum described the Harry Potter books as “beloved,” and shared a three-paragraph biography of her literary achievements at the time.
But Moore accused the author of using “racial stereotypes,” “fat-shaming,” and a “lack of LGBTQIA+ representation” in the books.
“We learned that (Rowling) was a problem, which is why you see the artifacts without any mention or image of the author,” he said.
The exhibitions’ project manager, Chris Moore, who is transgender and uses the pronouns “he/she,” confirmed that the museum would no longer contain references to Rowling.
MoPOP defended its decision to remove all references to Rowling in a lengthy blog post on Saturday
“After all, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are all incredibly vocal allies.”
Radcliffe, who rose to fame last year playing Harry Potter in the film series, said young fans were “hurt” by Rowling’s views on trans issues.
While Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, said “trans women are women, trans men are men.”
Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, donated money to the transgender charity Mermaids in 2020 and asked her Twitter followers to do the same.
Rowling has been abused online for her gender-critical views and in 2021 said she had received “enough death threats to wallpaper my house” after trans activists leaked her address online and staged a protest outside.
She has spoken out about her concerns making it easier to legally change genders rather than concerns about the safety of biological women.
The author was extremely critical of former Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s attempts to change the law to allow people to self-identify without a medical certificate.
A MoPOP spokesperson told The Telegraph: “MoPOP is proud to support our employees and unequivocally stands behind non-binary and transgender communities. In an increasingly divided world, pop culture can unite, inspire and spark important conversations.
“Education and creative expression are at the heart of our mission and in our commitment to diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility, we strive to uplift those who are excluded from mainstream pop culture conversation, by amplifying voices and stories not always seen on museum walls. .’
Dailymail.com has contacted MoPOP for comment.