After deciding to rename one of its school houses after Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, an English school is retracting the honor.
The Weald School in Billingshurst, West Sussex intended to update the school's house names to become more representative of racial and LGBTQ+ diversity. as well as reflect famous historical and contemporary figures. Originally, school officials had decided to name one of the houses for Rowling, but a letter sent to students and parents on June 10 announced that Rowling's name would not be used after all.
"J.K. Rowling has tweeted some messages which are considered to be offensive to the LGBT+ community (specifically, transphobic) and we feel that we do not wish to be associated with these views," Sarah Edwards, the Weald School's deputy headteacher, wrote. "The Weald is a school which always seeks to be inclusive of people across all of the protected characteristics, and we would not want to cause offence, even inadvertently."
Instead, the school house will bear the name of Malorie Blackman, a Black British author known for the novel Pig Heart Boy and the Noughts and Crosses series. The other house names chosen by the school are Leonardo DaVinci, Paralympic athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson, singer Freddie Mercury, presenter David Attenborough and Mary Seacole, a mixed-race businesswoman and author who tended to wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War.
Rowling most recently came under fire in June when she tweeted her controversial stance on the trans community, writing, "'People who menstruate.' I’m sure there used to be a word for those people," Rowling wrote. "Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud? If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth."
Addressing the reasons why Blackman was selected, Edwards also wrote, "Malorie Blackman is a prolific author of children’s and young adult literature, writer of television and radio dramas, was the Children’s Laureate between 2013-2015 and uses her writing as a way of exploring social and ethical issues. We feel that she fits the bill as an excellent replacement for a modern-day female author, so that we retain our aim of having a combination of historical and modern significant figures."
(via PinkNews)