JK Rowling’s Harry Potter play faces backlash for Pride Month tweet

‘Harry Potter and the Read The F***ing Room,’ one response read

The New York City and San Francisco account for JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play has been met with a backlash after sharing a pro-LGBT+ message, due to the controversy surrounding the author.

For Pride Month, the production’s US social media account tweeted: “Happy Pride Month from everyone at #CursedChild!”

The inclusion of a stylised graphic showing the Progress Pride flag – which features a colour representing the transgender community – provoked the ire of those critical of Rowling’s stance on trans rights.

The Harry Potter author has been widely criticised in recent years for her public comments, which began in June 2020 when she called out the gender-inclusive term “people who menstruate”. Recently she criticised the Labour leader Keir Starmer after he said “trans women are women” in an interview.

She has repeatedly rejected accusations that she is transphobic, and has claimed that she “knows and loves” trans people.

“Harry Potter and the Read The F***ing Room,” one tweet read in response to the Cursed Child production’s tweet, then calling on them to “donate to orgs actively supporting the lives of trans+ people”.

Another popular response read: “Harry Potter and the Audacity of This S***.”

“Harry Potter and the Lack of Situational Awareness,” another joked.

(Twitter)

Following the negative reaction, the people behind the account appeared to switch the settings on the tweet, so that only those who the account follows are able to reply.

Neither Rowling nor the West End production of Cursed Child has tweeted in support of Pride month at the time of writing.

The Independent is the official publishing partner of Pride in London 2022 and a proud sponsor of NYC Pride.