Revisiting an old obsession and resulting sadness

[pegkerr]

I was poking around on Bandcamp and came across an album that was created in 2020 as a counterpoint and rebuke to JKR for her toxic discourse on trans rights. The money raised from the album goes to support trans rights:

The fandom is ours--let's take it back.

A response to the author's comments towards the transgender community, including both spoken word and music, this album is a reminder that trans rights are human rights and there are people in the Harry Potter fandom who believe that. Emphasizing trans artists and artists of color, the proceeds of this album will go to Camp Lilac and The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.

The album is definitely an amateur effort, but there is a powerful pain and anger and wistfulness that the songs and poems capture well. These creative outpourings are about the betrayal so many felt (including me) about what it was like to discover a world that JKR created, and how it gave so many courage to be brave and live their own authentic selves--only to have JKR morph into Dolores Umbridge and try to hurt them and take everything away from them.

I was one of those fans. I devoted years of interest and energy and creativity and excitement to the fandom. I wrote an online fanfiction for seven years. Rob and I put on Harry Potter symposia around the country.

Now I have reached the point that JKR will never see another dime of my money. My admiration and gratitude has turned into total disgust.

The response from this album is: it's our fandom now. You may have betrayed us but we have found each other. And you can't take that away from us.

This song concludes the album:

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

HUGS

[laurel]

I can only imagine how awful it is for folks who were very into that fandom. I saw the movies and read the first book or two and read a ton of fanfic and watched some fanvids so was somewhat invested, but not like a lot of people. And it still pisses me off and hurts.

I know I'll never give JKR another dime if I can help it, though I already purchased the movies and books and some of the Noble Collection stuff years ago and that's still sitting here and I'm wondering if I need the prophecy and the time turner and Lucius Malfoy's walking stick/wand anymore and what to do if I don't. (Sell & donate proceeds to Trans Lifeline or something? Hmmm.)

I wasn't sure if I'd keep reading HP fanfic or rereading old faves but I realized most of what I read a lot of diverges significantly from canon (especially book canon as I understand it). And the folks who are still writing HP fic who I follow are very explicit in their author's notes about how they don't support JKR, TERFs can fuck right off, etc. And often times the stories now seem to be written intentionally as stories that JKR would hate and I kind of love that. Making the stories queerer and with trans characters and nonbinary characters and a more diverse cast of characters.

Lots of folks seem to be keeping their community and keeping the parts of that world that they did like or which they think has room for LGBTQIA+ folks. Making transformative art as a way of expressing anger or grief or queer joy in spite of her bigotry.

[minnehaha]

I get how awful and hurting this is, even if it wasn't my obsession, pastime, hobby, love. I'm sorry that JKR has caused so much hurt, and I applaud your idea of taking back the good and wonderful parts of that fandom.

K.

[queenbookwench]

I was never involved in a formal way with conventions and such, but HP was literally how I discovered online fandom existed, and of course there was our lovely project, Alternity. I hate how it's hard to talk about that era in my fannish life, as though it's been touched by the ooze of JKR's terrible behavior...