The author of the much-loved Harry Potter series, JK Rowling has become the latest target of LGBTQ+ activists, as one of her plays on the fantasy series posted a message celebrating Pride Month on Monday.
Signaling the start of the annual celebration of LGBTQ culture and rights, the post was made by the New York and San Francisco productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play on Twitter.
"Happy Pride Month from everyone at #CursedChild!" the post read, accompanying it was an image of the Progress Pride flag, with the trans Pride flag colors.
Although no comments were made from the London West End production about the Pride Month in general but members of the LGBTQ+ community have called out the post as well as the irony of it, the Mirror reported.
The English author has previously received intense criticism for her 'transphobic' tweets and statements. The controversy arose in June 2020 when she attempted to mock the gender-inclusive term "people who menstruate" on Twitter. The most recent incident was when she criticized Labour leader Keir Starmer for his comment, "trans women are women."
Although Rowling has reiterated that she respects every trans person's rights and rejected any and every 'transphobic' allegation against her, the community still calls her TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist)
Within hours of the message being posted on Twitter, almost 400 users called it out and soon the comment section was shut down. The post was retweeted nearly 3000 times and has more than 700 likes.
According to the Independent, many users have directly reached out to the US production house of the Cursed Child, demanding that they 'publicly condemn' Rowling's transphobia and make donations to transgender organizations. Some even speculated possible names for a sequel to Cursed Child.
Actor Anthony Rapp pointed out: "This tweet is the epitome of cowardice masquerading as allyship. The ultimate in virtue-signaling."
"The folks producing this show have yet to openly condemn the monstrously damaging and violent words and deeds of its playwright. Will they donate to and amplify trans rights orgs?" he tweeted.
"I'm going to assume the actors and production staff mean this genuinely and as a middle finger to her that should not be named," one Potter fan wrote.
"Does that include @jk_rowling? Is she part of the 'everyone'?" a user wrote.
"This... This is the definition of rainbow capitalism," a third commented.
"Donate every bit of profit you make this month to trans rights charities to counteract the harm that JK has done otherwise this means nothing," a user suggested.
