(LifeSiteNews) – One of the core cast members of the original Harry Potter film adaptations is slated to reprise his role on Broadway, prompting scorn from transgender activists who want series creator JK Rowling perpetually ostracized for opposing trans orthodoxy.
Rupert Grint played Harry’s friend Ron Weasley in each of the movies based on the bestselling books and is set to do so again in a 17-week run on the stage production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, an original sequel story spearheaded by Rowling.
Since authoring the global phenomenon that launched the acting careers of Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and others, Rowling became almost as well known as a vocal opponent of the trans agenda, arguing it both harms confused and impressionable children and endangers actual women.
Many of the stars from the original series distanced themselves from her views, including Grint, who in 2020 declared, “I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”
But the fact that the actor is willing to associate with another Rowling project despite their disagreement is not sitting well with transgender activists, LGBTQNation reported. The site’s Molly Sprayregen noted that a “portion of the money Rowling earns from Harry Potter-related ventures is going directly to the anti-trans movement.”
“Rupert Grint certainly figured out how to use the invisibility cloak on his trans allyship,” Them writer Mathew Rodriguez quipped. Another social media crusader quoted in the article fumed that Grint “sold out the Trans Community he championed now. He is a Transphobic sell-out effective immediately. Sorry NOT Sorry.”
Filmmaker Conor Williams declared, “Rupert Grint and Tom Felton coming back to Harry Potter is just sad. Nicholas Hoult and Kit Harington too, overlooking Rowling’s awful discrimination and hatred against the beautiful trans community for personal gain,” he added, referencing other actors who have signed onto Potter-related projects. “Always remember, it is so easy to simply do the right thing.”
Activist agitation has done little to slow down the Wizarding World. Cursed Child debuted in 2016 and productions are still running to this day. A new adaptation of the original books as a streaming series on HBO Max is highly anticipated. And despite a particularly aggressive boycott campaign, the 2023 video game Hogwarts Legacy sold more than 12 million copies in just its first two weeks of release.