Author J.K. Rowling is trending today, seemingly with a win for LGBTQ+ folks to celebrate. A new video game, Hogwarts Legacy, is on the way and it's being talked about in online spaces as being transgender-inclusive — though that might not actually be the case.
While Bloomberg reports that the game allows you to make your character transgender, the reality is Legacy lets players customize your body type, voice, and if you’re a witch (female) or a wizard (male). Though the options are more inclusive for players, there's no indication that identity will come into play in any way.
So what exactly makes a player's customizable character transgender?
Allowing players to choose between the binary male or female voice and body options, which only factor into which dormitory they end up in and how they're addressed, isn't exactly a win for transgender representation, or even that groundbreaking.
Bloomberg admits that in their article, specifically linking their headline to Rowling's transphobia for relevancy. "Although this level of customization has grown more common in video games and is no longer unusual, it’s noteworthy for Hogwarts Legacy. Last summer Rowling made several comments that were widely viewed as demeaning toward transgender people and denounced by many, including Harry Potter film stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson."
Sure, the game is more inclusive, but there's nothing specifically transgender about the customization or storyline. The claim is even more frustrating considering that we haven't heard from the actual game creators, just an "anonymous source."
Rowling's transphobic history seems to have us scrambling for any ounce of inclusivity in the Harry Potter universe, but celebrating a "transgender character" when we're really just receiving scraps is forced, and not at all a win worth forgiving Rowling's sins over.
