Harry Potter Game 'Hogwarts Legacy' Under Fire Over Trans Character's Name
Harry Potter universe.Sirona Ryan appeared in the new video game Hogwarts Legacy as the publican at Three Broomsticks, the pub in the fictional town of Hogsmeade.Her appearance in the game has raised eyebrows, given Harry Potter author J.K.
Rowling's controversial stance on transgender issues.Players of the game interact with Sirona during a quest and her friend, a goblin named Lodgok.Sirona tells the player that Lodgok was the only one "to realize I was actually a witch," meaning he had recognized she transitioned even though he had not seen her in a long time."Hadn't seen him in years when he came in a few months ago.
But, he recognized me instantly. Which is more than I can say for some of my own classmates. Took them a second to realize I was actually a witch, not a wizard," Sirona tells the player.Many people were surprised to see the inclusion of a trans character, but that quickly turned to anger when they learned her name.Some Twitter users even compared it to the racially stereotypical names, Rowling gave to characters in the book series, including Asian student, Cho Chang, and Black wizard, Kingley Shacklebolt."f****** hell they called the ONLY trans witch in like, ALL OF BRITAIN, SIRona RYAN, f****** call her Dudette McBro at this point," wrote one person on Twitter.Another added: "we didn't win, it's the typical jk rowling name situation (SIRona RYAN) and apparently they're mistaken for a wizard by classmates as well."And a third commented: "A token trans character called SIRona Ryan.
REALLY? Getting tokenized is bad enough, but they're just taking the piss."Other Twitter users hypothesized the character was named after the Celtic pagan healing goddess, Sirona.Ahead of the game's release, Rowling's opponents.
