(RepublicanNews.org) – While the Harry Potter series has sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, some people have taken issue with comments made by the series’ author, J.K. Rowling, seeking to remove her name from the books. One book reseller in Canada is literally doing that.
Laur Flom, a 23-year-old transgender artist and bartender from Toronto, Canada, has removed Rowling’s name from at least 30 copies of Harry Potter before reselling them online. The re-bound books take up to 12 hours to complete, says Flom, and are sold for about $170 apiece. Flom charges about $1,200 for a complete set of the Harry Potter series, which contains seven books. According to Flom, a portion of proceeds from each sale goes to charities that support transgender people.
Flom said the point of his project is to create a “safe space” for fans of the Harry Potter series who disagree with Rowling’s views, as well as to “bring light to her transphobia.” Flom said most reactions to his project have been positive, though sometimes reactions are “mixed.”
Author Rowling, who has written several books for adults and children after the wild success of the Harry Potter series, has never shied away from sharing her opinion on controversial subjects. In recent years, she has put out statements in support of women’s rights to maintain their own spaces and sports. This has attracted criticisms of “transphobia” and claims that Rowling “hates” trans people, though, in all her statements, she has expressed support for people to live and dress the way they prefer, as well as their right to safety and freedom from violence.
Rowling was the subject of an audio documentary by Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, with assistance from The Free Press, called “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling.” In the series, Phelps-Roper interviews clinicians, historians, critics, and journalists, as well as Rowling herself, to discuss the controversy around Rowling and her statements.
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