Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is mocking Vancouver’s parks and recreation board after its commissioners unanimously voted to apologize for hosting a Harry Potter event that is set to open in the city next month.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know Vancouver Parks and Recreations had avowed me, so the disavowal hasn’t been much of a blow,” Rowling said in an Oct. 9 X post. “Next time, send me a certificate of avowal, wait until I’ve proudly framed it, hung it over my PC and taken a selfie with it, THEN revoke it.”
She posted a screenshot of an Oct. 8 X post by Vancouver parks board commissioner Tom Digby, in which he said the board “did the right thing” by apologizing to the LGBT community and disavowing Rowling. He said the board will “undertake concrete actions” to rebuild the community’s trust.
Digby tabled a motion at an Oct. 7 committee meeting that called on the city’s parks and recreation board to apologize for the “harm caused” to the LGBT community by hosting the event “Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience.” The event is set to open Nov. 7 in Stanley Park and the city says the event will be presented for “a limited time.”
The event features a walking trail through the forest with characters and scenes from the Harry Potter film series, and has taken place in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and China.
The motion also called on the board to publicly disavow Rowling’s “political activity” and to recognize the harm it says she has caused globally.
“The original author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, has since 2018 taken very public political positions seeking to limit the rights and opportunities of transgender, gender diverse, and two spirit people in the UK, in Canada, and other countries,” Digby said.
Rowling has publicly defended women’s rights to female-only spaces, such as prisons, restrooms, and sporting events, and has been a vocal supporter of UK-based women’s rights group For Women Scotland.
Following hate crime legislation enacted last year in Scotland, where she lives, Rowling has refused to remove social media posts in which she has stated that transgender women are men. The new law created new hatred offences for protected characteristics, including “age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and transgender identity.”
“Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal,” she wrote in an X post on April 1, 2024.
Digby noted at the committee meeting that Rowling has said she will “use her wealth generated from the Harry Potter franchise to continue these political activities.”
The board unanimously voted to apologize for hosting the event and to disavow Rowling’s “political activity” after hearing from members of Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee, who told the board how Rowling’s comments have affected the community.
“Rowling’s widely publicized comments about transgender people have caused significant distress for many transgender and non-binary individuals globally, and including here in Vancouver,” Rob Hadley, member of Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee, said at the meeting.
The motion also called on parks and recreation staff to confirm that the event will only run for one season and will not be renewed or extended, and to have staff report back on “concrete actions” the park board can take to repair the trust of the LGBT community and “address the harm” caused by hosting the event.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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