In America, professional football, basketball and baseball, and even stock-car racing to a degree, have gone woke.
So, why not quidditch?
And J.K. Rowling, who invented the game, is to blame.
Last week, two organizing bodies of the “sport,” U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, announced that they had begun “the process of selecting a new name for the real-life version of quidditch.”
By “real-life” they mean by actual people. Quidditch was a game played by the witches in Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels. Much like the fantasy version from Rowling’s imagination, the players of the “real-life” game “ride” on broomsticks, albeit without levitating, while trying to toss a ball through hoops.
Although she invented their pastime, the leagues are very upset with Rowling.
The reason for their name change, it seems, is that the fiction master holds a view of human sexuality that is all too nonfiction.
Last week, The Times of London reported that cops in Scotland announced they will “record rapes by offenders with male genitalia as being committed by a woman if the attacker ‘identifies as a female,’ … even if they have not legally changed gender.”
In response, as The Free Press posted, Rowling tweeted, “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.” The quote’s opening was a reference to the communist government’s slogans in George Orwell’s “1984.”
But Rowling has been a frequent critic of the transgender movement and the effect it has had and could continue to have in the future, on women. She has asserted the push for transgender rights undermines women, first by equating trans women with biological women, and also with measures that, for example, allow men into women’s locker rooms and sports.
June 2020 produced one such example. In response to an opinion column with the headline, “Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate,” Rowling tweeted, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
She also has denounced the Cancel Culture for its attempts to silence critics, such as herself.
“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. 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,” she once wrote.
Such views are too much for the quidditch pros.
In a press release about the name change, which will be determined via online polls, the leagues jointly wrote that they are hoping a name change “can help them continue to distance themselves from the works of J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, who has increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions in recent years.”
“Our sport has developed a reputation as one of the most progressive sports in the world on gender equality and inclusivity, in part thanks to its gender maximum rule, which stipulates that a team may not have more than four players of the same gender on the field at a time. Both organizations feel it is imperative to live up to this reputation in all aspects of their operations and believe this move is a step in that direction.”
Check out Tampafp.com for Politics, Tampa Area Local News, Sports, and National Headlines. Support journalism by clicking here to our GoFundMe or sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.
Android Users, Click Here To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. It’s Free And Coming To Apple Users Soon.