I've been putting off making this post in the hopes someone else would do it, because I know it's going to make my notifications an absolute nightmare for weeks. But at the end of the day no one is making what I feel like is the single most important point about all this, so I guess that falls on me.

Anyway. The awful wizard books. You know the ones. At this point I think anyone actively spending money on Harry Potter IP is, at best, a transphobic enabler and can probably be written off as a lost cause when it comes to doing the right thing. To put it lightly. But people want there to be wiggle room when it comes to things like buying the books used, or writing fanfic, or cosplaying the characters, and other people want to call them losers for ever being invested and generally preen about being better people because of their own personal taste in books instead of actually doing anything for trans folks, and frankly I'm tired of this whole conversation, but I'm especially tired of no one bringing up what, to me, is the whole problem, so.

Places my hands gently on the side of your head, if you are someone still engaging with the fandom. Yes, you. Look. I'm genuinely sorry this happened to a thing you liked. I'm a trans person, and I actually really enjoyed Harry Potter as a kid, too. My dad and I had a mini book club working through the series. He took me and one of my best friends to pick up the final book at midnight. She's trans now too, btw. The friend, not my dad. Anyway. It sucks. And I think people who pretend it doesn't suck or who act like every child (because most of us read the books as, you know, kids, who knew a lot less about the world) who didn't pick up on this or that in the series when they were 12 years old was a budding proto-fascist or whatever is doing more harm than good. So again, I'm genuinely sorry. But you still gotta stop. And it's not because Joanne Rowling gains, like, evil xp every time someone says the name of a Hogwarts House.

It's because you're triggering people.

That's really all it comes down to. At this point there's a firm enough association that Harry Potter = transphobia that even if you're the kindest sweetest person in the world who donates to trans charities and wears a Pride pin on your lanyard and does your best to be a good ally in every other part of your life, if you're engaging in Harry Potter fandom anywhere openly -- like on Ao3, or at conventions, or here on tumblr -- you are still unfortunately triggering people.

Trans people deserve a place in fandom, too. I hope you can agree with me on that. We deserve to go to conventions, and use fanfiction sites, and participate in fic exchanges and challenges, and to do all the same fannish things you enjoy. And we deserve to do so without navigating the minefield of being reminded that one of the most powerful women in the world wants us all to die, and is actively using her money in the service of that. So it's really, genuinely hard to go to conventions and see people in Harry Potter cosplay, and it's hard to see Harry Potter ships placing high in the (recent!) Ao3 rankings, and it's hard to see Harry Potter fic being included in exchanges we participate in. Even if the people involved aren't giving Rowling a cent, even if you disagree with her vehemently on everything that matters. It's still a reminder that our lives are quite literally on the line, and it's exhausting.

That's why people need to let go of her stuff. There are a lot of (cis) people on their moral high horse about having already done so and I'm going to be honest, I think it's actually making things worse, because turning it into a moral purity contest about liking or not liking the right things shouldn't ever have been the point. The point is -- do you want to hurt people, or do you want to be kind? Continuing to engage with the books, movies, and impending TV series -- even in relatively segregated corners of fandom, even with tags and filters, even with disclaimers that you disagree with the creator -- is going to hurt people. Letting go of it, even if it's hard for you, maybe especially if it's hard for you, is kind.

Can you do that? Can you promise me you really do want people like me to feel safe and comfortable in fandom spaces too? Can you do what you can to make us feel safe?

Anyway. That's my piece. I hope it makes some things clearer for some people. I know it won't for everyone. But it's been bothering me a lot that no one seems to be talking about what the point of all this is, which is not having perfect taste in books, or moral purity, or even about hating Rowling. It's thinking about how this actually affects those of us who don't have the luxury of separating a bigot's fiction from her politics, and about loving trans people more than you love a book series -- or for that matter, more than you hate transphobes.

Transphobia is being signed into law in the UK. Let's fight it together.

I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the rescheduled Mass Lobby at Parliament, now on Wed Sept 9th, 1pm-5pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.

The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It became statutory guidance in the UK on August 5th, 2026.

Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.

A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Our demands have changed. Ask your MP to:

1. Write to Ministers and Prime Minister Andy Burnham to say they are profoundly concerned by the rolling back of trans rights, and that they believe that it is time for Parliament to legislate to protect equality for trans people.
2. Ask parliamentary questions focused on protecting trans people’s rights and defending trans people’s abilities to live safe and dignified lives.
3. Speak up both inside and outside Parliament in defence of trans people’s rights.
4. Meet regularly with trans constituents to understand their lived realities. 

Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.

I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.

We have already had some wins because we took action. The 2026 EHRC guidance has already rolled back its most harmful elements because of mass campaigning by individuals like us, and groups like The Good Law Project. This summer, 166 MPs signed the Early Day Motion 240 to reject the EHRC Code of Practice, because of our campaigning. That is 1 in 4 MPs.

It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:

Keep reading

pro tip for inviting out disabled and chronically ill people who aren't sure they can make it:

instead of "your health comes first, you don't have to come"

try "is there anything we can do to make it easier?"

disabled people want to hang out with our friends. "we don't want you to come if you're sick" is usually reasonable, but when you're ALWAYS sick? it just becomes "we don't want you to come."

asking if you can do anything for them signals that you do want to see your friend, and that you're willing to accommodate their disability, while still giving them the option to tap out if they really need to. it also opens the door for them to ask for support they might have felt too guilty to request.

slut

I gotta say I could not care less about the wattpad to AO3 immigration. Like... good. People should try out new archives if the one they usually use is no longer serving them.

"Oh but a handful of them will be weird puritans who don't understand AO3 policies!" So? Weird puritans don't understand AO3's policies every day. They'll falsely report some fics and the moderators will be like "there's nothing wrong with this fic" and life moves on. A small fraction of them will complain about AO3 on tiktok or something and people who are already complaining about AO3 on tiktok will agree with them and everyone else will ignore them. Who cares.

All the "those silly kids from Wattpad fleeing censorship don't understand just how anti-censorship AO3 is; they don't get that we're the cool big brave people! Look I found two ex-wattpad thirteen year olds complaining about AO3, which proves that they're all a bunch of whiny babies trying to change our awesome website!" just reeks of those "boomer can't get plain coffee in coffee shop from GNC barista" comics.

You're making shit up for drama to claim ownership over Already Using The More Permissive Website. Shut up.

Sick of all the things that started out as being intentionally free getting paywalled. Did you hear they started charging for putting river water in your socks?

all sports should have a mini golf equivalent. table tennis kind of understands the job but it lacks cheesy obstacles. where are the tiny windmills in my table tennis.

my legal name has a really obvious nickname. for the sake of this post let's say it's isabella, with the nickname being bella.

literally everybody i meet wants to call me bella. i don't like going by bella. it was my childhood nickname and i've always hated the sound of it and purposefully decided to go by my full name instead. if someone asks me (which usually happens when they first meet me) i immediately say i prefer isabella.

but one of my new coworkers... did not ask me. he just started calling me bella without asking if it was ok. is there a way for me to clarify i don't like that nickname without sounding insulting? or am i just like... stuck 🥲

sometimes when two people love each other very much, they don't do anything and nothing happens

i saw someone say nobody needs to know what a .txt file is anymore. what the fuck is the world coming to