NEW YORK — Producers of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” could probably use an invisibility cloak right now.
On Monday the U.S. Twitter accounts for the two-part play based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, shared a pro-LGBTQ message — which included the colors of the transgender Pride flag.
“Happy Pride Month from everyone at #CursedChild!” the tweet by the New York and San Francisco companies read.
The attempt at honoring the LGBTQ community, however, was immediately criticized by users of the social media site, who saw the compliment as a tone-deaf attempt at capitalizing on Pride month, given Rowling’s well-known stance on transgender people.
“This tweet is the epitome of cowardice masquerading as allyship. The ultimate in virtue signaling,” actor and singer Anthony Rapp wrote in response. “The folks producing this show have yet to openly condemn the monstrously damaging & violent words & deeds of its playwright. Will they donate to & amplify trans rights orgs?” asked the openly gay Broadway superstar.
“Harry Potter and the Read The F—ing Room,” Twitter user @connolly_reece wrote, urging producers to “publicly condemn JKR’s bigotry and donate to orgs actively supporting the lives of trans+ people.”
Playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm echoed that sentiment, writing: “Donate every bit of profit you make this month to trans rights charities to counteract the harm that JK has done otherwise this means nothing.”
“Harry Potter and the Audacity of This S—,” added a Twitter user named @IndustrialPet.
Despite rejecting accusations that she’s transphobic, the creator of the “Harry Potter” universe has consistently raised eyebrows with her very public comments on transgender issues in several instances dating back to March 2018, when she liked a tweet that referred to trans women as “men in dresses.”
She has also expressed support to an anti-transgender researcher who was fired for tweeting that “men cannot change into women,” was criticized for “liking” several tweets with clear anti-transgender sentiments, and promoted a fiercely anti-trans online store to her near 14 million followers.
Earlier this year she criticized British politician Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, after he said that “trans women are women.”
Following the backlash, the Twitter accounts appear to have changed their reply settings, limiting users who can post a response.
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