At Wizards and Muggles of William and Mary, we are united by our love of the Harry Potter franchise, the world built and added to over the years by countless creators. We recognize, however, that one simply cannot escape into the wizarding world to ignore the social justice matters facing our country and our world today. As such, we would like to clarify a few things. We do not, in any way, shape, or form, condone or excuse the actions and words of Ms. Rowling. She wrote Harry Potter, yes, and it is important that we be able to recognize her biases projected into the world. Recently, she has made several very controversial statements regarding the identity of transgender people. Let us be completely and totally clear: we do not support her in that manner. Trans people are who they say they are, independent of their point in transition, if they intend to transition at all, or if they are unsure what they are transitioning to. In no uncertain terms, transgender lives matter.
On a related note, and it is greatly unfortunate that this also even has to be clarified, black lives matter as well. At Wizards and Muggles of William and Mary, we strive for equality amongst wizard and muggle voices alike. This applies regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, level of physical or mental capability, and anything else that may be targeted, even including Hogwarts House or “blood status”. In no manner are we diminishing any one struggle for equality and representation by addressing these issues altogether. We wish to address all of them and make clear our undying support for such matters, and it is unfortunate that these issues are blowing up all at once, in 2020 of all years. WizMug would like to make it clear, we do not tolerate or condone in any way the abuse of power, the abuse of influence to push hateful messages, or the dismissal of minority voices in any space. While we do try and separate J. K. Rowling from Harry Potter, it is also important that we take her and her very real connection to the work as a lesson, both in how love matters more than anything else, and in how we can work to reexamine our own inherent biases and begin to unlearn them.
WizMug is a family, first and foremost, a home for those who seek it out during their time at William and Mary, and we will not tolerate sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or any other manner of unfounded prejudice. Let it be absolutely clear. Black lives matter. Transgender lives matter. Jewish lives matter. Every life is significant, and the diminution of any one struggle in favor of another will not be tolerated, nor will any propaganda such as “All lives matter” or “Blue lives matter.” We are one community, one family, made up of distinctly unique identities and experiences, each of which are valid and welcome in their own right. WizMug is, and will continue to be, a safe place for all.