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gender, harry potter, jk rowling, pottermore, transLONDON — A recent Pottermore update will now require users to upload pictures of their genitals in order to confirm their gender at the behest of author J.K Rowling.
“People are free to do as they please,” Rowling stated on Twitter. “But visually confirming every fan’s genitals before they join the site is the best thing we can do to ensure everyone’s safety. It is crucial to the Harry Potter community.”
Rowling has gradually opened up about her gender critical views on social media, and as a self proclaimed feminist, she has promised her followers to put her beliefs into action.
“As a feminist, it is important to me to acknowledge sex as a reality,” Rowling explained. “Your born sex and body is absolutely the metric by which you should be judged as a person. You can’t just change some important part of your backstory years after the fact. That would be ridiculous.”
One parent took to Twitter with a screenshot, asking Rowling to explain a prompt presented to her teenage daughter with the sorting hat asking to send a “Well lit picture of your genitals for security purposes.”
“This is simply to protect your *alleged* daughter from predators that might take advantage of her,” Rowling replied. “Imagine your daughter talking to a ‘female’ friend about their patronuses, when in reality the person she’s talking to doesn’t have a vagina at all. Chilling.”
Others have come out in support of Rowling, praising the new system.
“When I read Harry Potter as a child,” a user named GenderCriticalUmbridge posted, “I was inspired by the way children were told their exact role in life from an early age that they had to conform to, and aim to live by that, as well as require others to do so as well.”
At press time, Rowling was asked by advocates if the update would target trans men as well.
“Trans what now?” Rowling responded.
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