Gilded handprints belonging to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling installed outside of the Edinburgh City Chambers in 2008 were vandalized over the weekend, covered with “blood-like” red paint and marked by a transgender flag in apparent protest of the famous author’s opposition to transgender ideology in defense of feminism.
Images of the vandalized handprints quickly made the rounds on social media. Take a look:
Breaking: #HarryPotter author J.K. Rowling's golden hand prints preserved in stone outside the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland have apparently been vandalized in protest over her recently amped-up transphobia, with a #trans pride flag and fake blood. (before/after pics) #jkr pic.twitter.com/lRc6lDh3gA
— Wizarding News™ 🔔 (@HPANA) July 11, 2020
No arrests have been made and the identities of the vandals remain unknown. According to Pink News, an anonymous Edinburgh local said that the red paint possibly symbolizes how Rowling has “blood on her hands” for not affirming men in their desires to be regarded as women.
The vandalism of the marker came shortly after Melissa Anelli, editor for The Leaky Cauldron, one of the largest Harry Potter fan sites, urged people to boycott all things J.K. Rowling.
“STOP GIVING HER MONEY: don’t buy new books, don’t buy official merch, don’t see the play, don’t rent or buy the movies, don’t see the movies in theaters, don’t go to the theme park. We give zero dollars to transphobes,” she tweeted.
Last week, a school in West Sussex said it would no longer name a house after her, believing that she is “no longer an appropriate role model for our community.”
An author in Glasgow, Scotland, was also recently fired from her job for expressing support for Rowling’s views on transgenderism.
Rowling sparked controversy last month when she said that the concept of transgenderism erases the struggles of women across the world.
“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” Rowling tweeted. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
“The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women – ie, to male violence – ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences – is a nonsense,” she continued.
Following her post, Rowling faced severe social media backlash, prompting “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe and “Fantastic Beasts” star Eddie Redmayne to publicly declare their support for the trans movement. As criticism mounted, Rowling penned an essay about her experiences as a survivor of both sexual assault and domestic violence and argued that the concept of men becoming women erases womanhood entirely.
“It isn’t enough for women to be trans allies,” she wrote. “Women must accept and admit that there is no material difference between trans women and themselves. But, as many women have said before me, ‘woman’ is not a costume. ‘Woman’ is not an idea in a man’s head. ‘Woman’ is not a pink brain, a liking for Jimmy Choos, or any of the other sexist ideas now somehow touted as progressive.”
Though the publishing company producing Rowling’s new book, “The Ickabog,” has been pressured by LGBTQ activists to censure the author, the company has stood by her right to express her opinion.
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