ANARCHISTS burnt a Harry Potter book in the street in a stunt to protest against JK Rowling.
Members of the co-operatively-run Pink Peacock in Glasgow – which describes itself as a “queer, Yiddish, anarchist café” – filmed themselves burning Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
In the video, a worker at the café is shown putting the book on a disposable barbeque then setting it alight.
The video’s caption noted that it was filmed on the minor Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer during which it is traditional to light bonfires.
The staff member is heard saying “God also hates Terfs” as the book catches alight. A Terf refers to a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
Rowling has found herself at the centre of a vicious culture war because of her gender-critical feminist beliefs, leading to accusations she is transphobic, something she has repeatedly and strongly denied.
The member of staff then said: “This feels empowering. I wanna do hormones about it.”
He then takes out testosterone gel, used in gender-affirming care by trans men, and applies it to his arms.
He added: “Coincidentally, we’re burning the fifth Harry Potter book, which was my favourite when I was a depressed, abused child.
“But now, I’m a less depressed, less abused, big, grown man who loves his hormones and hates Joanne Rowling.”
One of the café’s directors was charged in 2021 with a breach of the peace after displaying a sign reading “fuck the police” in the window of its premises in the Govanhill area of Glasgow.
A local blog, Govanhill Go, replied to a tweet featuring the video, saying: “Guys this is really not cool in the middle of a busy street right next to cars and buildings especially putting propellants on it.”
The United States Holocaust Museum called the Nazi book-burning of 1933 “perhaps the most famous” example of the practice in history, saying it was a “powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship”.
A spokesperson for the Pink Peacock said: "Our burning of a first edition Harry Potter was not an 'echo' of the Nazi book burning for several key reasons: we are a not-for-profit café, not a government or an army; we burned a single book, not all copies of it; the book was chosen for its bigotry, not the racial, sexual, or gender identity of its author; and we were not attempting (nor are we, a small café, capable of committing) murder or cultural genocide.
"The question of power is absolutely paramount: we are a small group of trans and queer Jews and our comrades, trying to feed people for free.
"We do not have power of a billionaire Terf and destroying a copy of her book does not cause anyone harm; JK Rowling's racist and antisemitic caricatures, and lobbying to ban trans people from public life, does."
"The Harry Potter [intellectual property] (including the most recent game) is full of racism and antisemitism, and to such an extent that we would feel silly trying to outline it. Surely you know."
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they had not been called out to the fire. A spokesperson for the Pink Peacock said after filming staff "doused the flames with water and safety disposed of the trash".
A representative for Rowling declined to comment.
