Laur Flom, a twenty-three-year-old who loathes seeing JK Rowlings’ names on her books, has begun transforming them. He starts by finding second-hand copies of the Harry Potter series, then systematically removes the covers and any pages with the authors’ names. He then proceeds to rebind the books with new covers. Finally, Flom “upsells” the books for an exorbitant price, charging $170 on average. His dislike of Rowling stems from what he calls her “transphobia.” Apparently, the woke youth cannot handle disagreeing with someone and still seeing their name in writing but believes having people curious about his project to change Rowling’s books makes it a success. He said,
“I would hope that the impact of my project is just to bring light to [Rowling’s] transphobia and to make people aware of the things she has said … I get so many comments just asking what she had done…just the fact that people have been interested makes me think that it’s been successful,” he added.
Flom believes that removing Rawling’s name from her work enables trans people to find a safer space when they read her books. He said, “It raised questions about the ethics of consuming her work,” adding, “the purpose of this project is to create a safe space for fans to find comfort in the books and critically engage with J.K Rowling’s work.”
Flom is offended that Rowling does not believe in erasing the sexes. In 2020 she tweeted about the issue, criticizing the way the trans movement was affecting womanhood. J.K. Rowling shared that she was concerned that transgender ideology might lead to the erasure of womanhood by denying the basic biology that separates women from men.
“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 tweeted.
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.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
One of her fans tweeted #IStandWithJKRowling, saying,
“Neither JK Rowling nor I have anything against trans people, but what we do both have is the ability to understand that, unless a man is a genuine wizard, he can’t become a woman simply by declaring himself to be one.”
Neither JK Rowling nor I have anything against trans people but what we do both have is the ability to understand that, unless a man is a genuine wizard, he can't become a woman simply by declaring himself to be one.
Accordingly, #IStandWithJKRowling. pic.twitter.com/Odd5TteilK— Positively4thStreet (@Positively4thS) January 12, 2023
Rowling shared her concern about where this road might lead for women,
“We’re living through the most misogynistic period I’ve ever experienced. Never have I seen women denigrated and dehumanized to the extent they are now. ‘Woman’ is not an idea in a man’s head.”
