No, You Can’t Separate Hogwarts Legacy From J.K. Rowling’s Transphobia

It’s a debate people have been having for years: Beloved creator of a popular story, movie, or song is revealed to have said or done terrible things, prompting their many fans to question if they can still love the thing that they have loved and separate the art from the artist. This is a conversation that’s been reignited, again, around Harry Potter and author J.K. Rowling, who has a long history of making dangerous anti-trans comments — which includes her exclusion of trans, non-binary and non-gender conforming people who can also menstruate and her public support of others who have made transphobic statements. On 10th February, a new, immersive, live-action role-playing game set in the Potterverse called Hogwarts Legacy was released, leaving gamers and HP fans divided. Is it okay, they wondered, to play this game if you don’t agree with Rowling’s inflammatory rhetoric? 

For Veronica “Nikatine” Ripley, a variety streamer and one of the leading trans voices on Twitch, the answer is simple: No. “It’s black and white. [Consider] if [a creator] is still benefiting from it,” she said during Thursday’s R29 Twitch stream. “Purchasing art from someone and giving a transactional exchange of money to someone who is going to use those funds to sow hatred, dissent and disinformation — if you purchasing that art is actively contributing to somebody’s very real-life pain, then there is no separation between the art and the artist.” 

Although she had never been a Harry Potter fan, Nikatine entered the conversation on Twitter when she discovered that there was a large ad campaign on Twitch ahead of the game’s release. “Hogwarts Legacy is a product ultimately funding J.K. Rowling, whose well-documented stance on trans people remains firmly rooted in a callous disregard for human life,” she wrote. “Therefore, I will not be streaming to Twitch while this ad campaign remains active. I call on every streamer to join me in taking a stance against bigotry, hatred, and those who support such views. I call on Twitch to end this harmful relationship with Hogwarts Legacy, and continue to take steps towards providing a safe place for the trans community.” 

Twitch never responded and, after a brief hiatus, Nikatine is back streaming. But, while speaking with R29 Entertainment Director and Twitch host Melissah Yang, she explained that she viewed her campaign as a success. (Though the game has been a hit financially with a staggering 12 million in sales.) An overwhelming amount of media coverage the game received was framed in controversy, bringing more attention to the issue. The conversation became one of morals and ethics, and that is ultimately a net positive result. And even if some gamers took a less active stance in their allyship, choosing not to play the game because they didn’t want to face questions in their Twitch chats (which is not harassment, Nikatine pointed out, like some streamers were quick to claim), the result was that fewer people were publicly supporting the game and that was part of the goal. 

Still, it’s important to remember, this was never just about a game — or even Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling. Twitch streamers are often interrupted by ads. Most of the time, they’re innocuous and that’s just the reality of being a creator of the platform. But when the ads are harmful and offensive and creators have no say in them interrupting their content, the platform becomes a less safe place. It’s why Nikatine stopped posting on YouTube. Creators, she argues, need some level of control about who and what can advertise on their channels. “If ad companies can blacklist creators from their products, why can’t streamers blacklist advertisers?” she asked. 

Even more significantly, trans people are under attack every single day. It is unsafe for members of the trans community to even go outside out of fear of being verbally or physically harassed. An unprecedented amount of anti-trans bills are being drafted in the US — and, in many cases, passed — that essentially make trans people illegal in their home states. Trans people are being denied access to medical care. Politicians and other public figures are constantly spewing the same hatred that J.K. Rowling has come under fire for. There is no rest for trans people. 

“Is the kids’ book more important than people’s lives? Trans issues aren’t a belief or a both sides issue, they are a fact.” Nikatine said. “We want to survive in a world where we can just be empowered the same way that other people are.”