Maybe it’s just best to not have any heroes in the first place. That’s just something we have to deal with over and over again, whether it’s Justin Roiland and Rick & Morty, or any number of other creative or famous people who disappoint us (and some who are truly monsters, but that’s another topic). I also believe that we must separate the art from the artist, and that as fans we must actively participate in the things we love, even if sometimes their creators turn out to be kind of crappy. I believe that trans people deserve respect, that they deserve the same rights and dignity as anyone else, and that it’s important to stand up for the most vulnerable in our communities. I’d wager most people who play this game don’t even know about the controversy, and don’t care. Live by the sword, die by the sword, as they say. And it’s not even out of Early Access yet! Clearly, these protests are falling on deaf ears, or perhaps on ears only too keen to buy a copy of the game out of spite.

To illustrate just how ineffectual the boycotts have been-and perhaps more than ineffectual but actively counterproductive, driving more people to buy the game than otherwise would have!-I present to you a world record: Hogwarts Legacy just beat Cyberpunk 2077 to become the most-streamed single-player game on Twitch on Day One with over 1.2 million viewers tuning in to watch other people play the game. In so many ways, Hogwarts Legacy represents the most liberal vision of the Potterverse ever created, and yet here we also encounter the biggest, most heated backlash to any Wizarding World IP. The game is extremely diverse compared to the films, including numerous characters from many different racial and cultural backgrounds. It even allows you to play as a trans protagonist. After all, the game has a prominent (and very likeable) trans character.

I think that it was a lousy hill to die on, and that harassing streamers who play the game, for instance, is a bad move that does nobody in the trans community any favors.įar better, I believe, to claim this game as a victory for the LGBTQ community and for progress. But I do believe that the reaction-or perhaps overreaction-to Hogwarts Legacy has done more harm than good to the cause. I say this as someone who is admittedly not as impacted by this debate as people in the trans community, though I think that broader implications of this debate do affect all of us.

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