I find it odd that there’s controversy about this game just because of the author of the books the game is based on. I mean, the game itself doesn’t comment on trans rights etc does it? So fucking odd.

What's the issue with the name Sirona Ryan?

Edit: Sir Ona Ryan, maybe. Just spotted it.

Ah, ok. Cheers Tiger. Tokenism I do have an issue with. Like, it’s not that they care about certain demographics, just paying lip service etc. That sucks.

Scout wrote:

I think it's fairly obvious why some people are chosing to boycott the game. JK is one of the most vocal and influential anti-trans voices in the world and she's going to benefit financially from this game. Whether that bothers you or not is up to you.

Yeah, this. Her campaign against trans people is an ongoing one, rather than some historical baggage. It's not difficult to see why people - especially those affected - can't separate that from the HP universe.

I won't go on about it, but I do agree that it's a reasonable ask to stay away from this if you have any sympathy for trans rights.

Paul the sparky wrote:

It's also a reasonable ask to let someone enjoy the game without labeling them as anti trans, which is what's happening at the minute

Yeah. I hope it’s okay that I bought this yesterday and have enjoyed the couple of hours I’ve spent with it.

Anyone who holds the opinion that buying this game makes you transphobic is as dumb as fuck

JonB wrote:

Paul the sparky wrote:

It's also a reasonable ask to let someone enjoy the game without labeling them as anti trans, which is what's happening at the minute

It depends who you ask. There's a wide range of opinions about it out there among those who are making a point of not buying it.

I'll make sure to remind my daughter she's a terf every time she plays the game.

Calling her anti-trans is a nonsense too. She's pro women's rights.

There is obviously a conflict of rights when men can just identify as women, and then legally be regarded as female and not male.

Recent events in Scotland show this.

My wife is a big HP fan and is playing this.

He’ll put you in a corner.

Playing the game isn't doing their cause any harm either, is it?

Just throwin' it out there that maybe some unconscious biases are at play here. JK Rowling has used her wealth to fund anti-LGBT activities in the UK. It's pretty reasonable for trans people to call for a boycott of a product that will generate royalties for her that could be used to harm them, whether you personally want to participate or not. I haven't seen any trans people saying you're a transphobe if you play the game. I have seen trans people saying 'Please don't consider yourself a trans ally if you play this game' which, again, I think is reasonable if they're concerned about the royalties being used to harm them.

Kinda surprised to see the vibe of this forum being 'Ooh, trans people are so huffy!' If you were part of a marginalised community that was subject to a damaging campaign of moral panic that was directly affecting the implementation of your human rights, you would probably not be best pleased either.

Don’t want to derail any further but as someone who is only passively aware of the issues around trans rights, what I don’t understand is why it only seems to be biologically born men transitioning to women that seem to raise objections from traditional folks. You never hear of people complaining about biologically born women transitioning to male. Or not that I’m aware of. The obvious concerns of male sexual abuse seems to be a key issue but beyond that the feeling that women are having their identify stripped by the trans movement seems just as difficult for them whereas it seems men just go “le shrug” when it’s the other way. I’m assuming there is some conflation with the me too movement going on here that women are already fighting for equality from men in the traditional sense and now maybe feel they are having to fight it against the trans movement. The obvious irony seems to be they are hitting out at another minority rather than trying to find a way to work together to elevate all rights.

That is probably all a load of bollocks but seems to make sense to me.

Can you change the colour of your broomstick in this?

DrewMerson wrote:

Knight wrote:

ChopperByrne wrote:

Calling her anti-trans is a nonsense too. She's pro women's rights.

There is obviously a conflict of rights when men can just identify as women, and then legally be regarded as female and not male.

Recent events in Scotland show this.

My wife is a big HP fan and is playing this.

That she gets labelled transphobic on this is an absolute travesty and I find her willingness to speak up to preserve female spaces very admirable. I’m grateful that this thread so far is much saner on this topic than most of the gaming world appears to be.

Of course if it’s transphobic to claim it’s not ok for a person with male genitalia who has been convicted of rape to be in a woman’s prison then I’ll happily own the label.

I would politely suggest that the two of you do a bit more reading. What is happening right now is that isolated cases are being used to justify infringing the rights of some of the most vulnerable sections of our society. Those isolated cases can be managed without infringing other trans people’s rights.

JK Rowling may started out raising concerns for women’s rights, but as she has entrenched her position she has targeted trans people, while supporting and promoting known active transphobes. She’s not admirable, she’s a nasty cunt. One of those famous people who likes to weaponise her social media followers.

Yeah the misogyny of the vitriol against gender critical feminists is very noticeable.

As for do more reading, I’m well read on this issue

Nothing about this is transphobic. https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/

I’ll bow out here but happy to engage further in another thread if there’s an appropriate one and you’d like too.

I look forward to 50 pages of this and several flounces within the week