Quidditch May Change Name to Distance from J.K. Rowling

Quidditch was first made famous in the Harry Potter books as a fictional, wizarding sport played on brooms. As the series boomed, athletes in the real world developed a version of the sport and, given author J.K. Rowling’s ongoing and outspoken transphobia in recent years, players and organizations are looking at renaming the IRL sport.

Two groups, U.S. Quidditch (USQ) and Major League Quidditch (MLQ), released a joint statement saying they are conducting a survey to decide on a new name for the real-world version of the sport, specifically citing Rowling’s “anti-trans positions in recent years” as the reason.

“For the last year or so, both leagues have been quietly collecting research to prepare for the move and been in extensive discussions with each other and trademark lawyers regarding how we can work together to make the name change as seamless as possible,” MLQ Commissioner Amanda Dallas is quoted in the letter.

The sport was initially adapted from the series in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont by Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe. Benepe supports the name change and expressed his support in the letter.

“I’m thrilled that USQ and MLQ are moving in this direction. Big changes like this don’t come without risk, but I’ve been a strong advocate for making this move for a long time. The sport needs its own space without limits on its growth potential and changing the name is crucial to achieving that,” Benepe said.

The letter notes that Quidditch has developed into “one of the most progressive sports in the world on gender equality and inclusivity, in part thanks to its gender maximum rule, which stipulates that a team may not have more than four players of the same gender on the field at a time.”

The letter concludes, “Both organizations feel it is imperative to live up to this reputation in all aspects of their operations and believe this move is a step in that direction.”

The Rowling saga first began nearly two years ago, when she voiced her support for Maya Forstater, a social justice nonprofit employee who lost her job for attacking trans people. Forstate sued and lost her case, with the court citing her actions as creating “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.”

Since then, she’s come out in support of conversion therapy for trans people, continued her tirade on Twitter against trans people, and has even published a book under a pen name perpetuating harmful trans stereotypes and rhetoric, about a man who wears dresses as a means to kill women.

Her arguments have also been cited by politicians attacking LGBTQ rights, with Rowling often adopting the role of a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist), portraying transgender civil rights as diminishing or attacking the rights of cis women.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.