(As my leaving post was deleted but I don't want to be silenced, I will repost here)

With the recent discussions on whether or not Harry Potter should be allowed in the community, as well as the subsequent fallout, I am very saddened to say that I no longer feel safe or comfortable within this community as a trans person.

While I will be discussing what happened, I won't use usernames because I don't want to "call out" various people, but it is important that this is said. 

I made it clear that allowing any kind of celebratory fanart or fanworks of Harry Potter will ultimately benefit JKR socially/financially (yes, even if you're not directly giving her money) and will then harm trans people. It has a very clearly A->B knock on effect. 

The Harry Potter policy was ultimately corrected, and I appreciate that. However, the hostility and dismissive treatment I received while raising this concern have made the community unsafe for me personally.

I accept that I made one judgmental comment about another user's continued engagement with JKR's intellectual property, and I understand why that specific comment was removed. However, treating me more broadly as a troublemaker trying to ruin everyone’s enjoyment is deeply harmful and inaccurate.

The concerns I raised were regarding a policy grounded in actual harm and danger; the conversation became personal only after it was repeatedly filtered through nostalgia, defensiveness and tone.

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\*\*It is important to note that this isn't just fandom discourse, this isn't just internet drama or chronically online nonsense. This is real, it affects my real life, and I have been impacted greatly.\*\*

I am currently writing this whilst resting between sets at the gym. This gym I am stealth at, as if I am outed I am not able to use the toilet here. I am scared of being figured out to be trans. This is a direct impact of JKR bankrolling the Supreme Court's decision to say "gender is biological sex in law". I have also been hate crimed, and there is a stretch of road in my town I cannot safely walk down.

This is not internet drama. As you can see from these examples, this is doing serious real world harm to trans people. What has happened to me is extremely minor in the grand scheme of things despite being unable to safely live a normal life.

In view of this and the impact it has on trans people, the mods ultimately made the correct decision to not allow Harry Potter content, which I am pleased about.

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\*\*However, the way I have been treated afterwards has been incredibly upsetting.\*\*

The mod who first brought about the Harry Potter ideal stepped down due to the criticism. This is their decision ultimately, and I did not force or ask them to resign by challenging the moderation decision. While it is their decision, this whole fall out feels disproportionate. I raised a content-policy concern, one comment inappropriately crossed into judgmental territory (which I will accept), and suddenly there is a retirement announcement, recruitment drive and emotional community event around it.

Not only that, but the comments underneath were clearly referring to me and said some very hurtful things:

\- My position was framed as \*"righteous"\*, and my post title ("Why Does Harry Potter Need a Place Here More Than Trans People Do?") was described as \*"inflammatory"\*.

\- \*"I'm trans too"\* was used as a counter point, as if another trans person willing to consume Harry Potter is a valid mitigation of, or otherwise "undoes" the harm being done or the personal stories I have shared of the direct impact.

I need to make it clear — \*\*other people's transness does not lessen, mitigate, or otherwise undo/counter the harm being done.\*\*

\- The wording \*"you are demanding to be seen and heard after painting a community member in a false and negative light"\* was used against me, which is flat out wrong. Firstly, this leans into "trans people are just attention seekers" trope. Secondly, beyond the one personal comment which I have already acknowledged, I did not make false claims about anyone. My broader criticism concerned public statements, policy decisions and moderation conduct.

In that same comment I was told I was \*"being extended an olive branch"\*, despite the fact that it began with an insult. \*\*I don't want to be slapped to the ground then be expected to be grateful when I am offered a hand to stand back up.\*\*

\- \*"I just ask that you don't treat other trans members poorly".\* This being said to me is another slap in the face. I was not only defending myself, but all trans people when I put my foot down about this policy. Acting as if I am harming other trans people for raising concerns about this policy- especially after I was insulted with \*"righteous"\* and dismissing my concerns as just troublemaking, is immensely insulting. No, liking Harry Potter isn't a protected characteristic.

Overall, I was treated as "the aggressor" in this scenario, and everyone else as "graciously trying to learn" whilst simultaneously minimising my arguments and villainising me. 

I feel that I am being treated as the "annoying unreasonable radical trans person forcing everyone to comply" whilst the trans people unbothered are "the reasonable ones willing to enjoy Harry Potter" - despite another trans person already having left due to safety concerns.

It also didn't escape my notice that the comments insulting me were upvoted.

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\*\*I also received a modmail by another mod, and the following statements were said to me:\*\*

\- \*"You're welcome to leave if you don't agree. All of the mods in this group are trans, you don't speak for every single one of us."\*

This was an incredibly hostile, dismissive, and outright cruel thing to say. How am I supposed to take this other than "we like Harry Potter and don't want it to be criticised so we would rather you leave"? To say "don't like it, leave" after expressing safety concerns is extremely upsetting. It also feels like a "diplomatic" way of telling me to leave.

Besides, you may be comfortable consuming the media, but then again you may not have had to call in sick off work because you had a panic attack when you heard a man shout to his dog because he had the same voice as the man who hate crimed you, and the lorazepam you took made you unable to concentrate at work. This is what it is doing to me.

I came out in 2008 and have spent well over a decade involved in trans advocacy, workshops, mutual aid, community events and LGBTQ+ charity work. I do not claim to speak for every trans person, but my concerns about safety are informed by substantial lived and community experience.

\- \*"You said you feel unsafe, and others are also feeling uncomfortable for being attacked for their opinions and beliefs. I'm not sure we can reach an impass here."\* This is the exact issue I highlighted in my original post. 

\*\*My fear and loss of safety is being treated as equivalent to other people feeling uncomfortable because their opinions were criticised.\*\*

In my post I raised the concern that I felt that trans people, and trans people's safety was being treated as equally valid to Harry Potter fans' enjoyment of a fandom - and that they both deserve equal attention and that a "compromise" can be made by splitting both down the middle. It is insulting that it is being treated as two things worthy of equal care and equal consideration. \*\*Harry Potter fans can abstain from Harry Potter. I can't stop being trans.\*\*

\- \*"I don't want drama, I don't want round about debate, I don't have an excuse for my wording not being elegant today. I don't want to ban anyone, or force anyone to leave. But I also don't want to have anyone feeling like they are unsafe."\*

Again, this isn't interpersonal drama until people decided that me raising concerns about moderation choices was interpersonal. I don't want to come across as harsh here, but if you're going to moderate a subreddit then you need to be willing to listen to concerns, suggestions, criticisms and other feedback without taking it personally. As I mentioned, I have been on committees of charities, I have messed up and been called out and made the wrong decisions before, but I needed to be challenged in order for me to grow and learn as a person. Being uncomfortable that your favourite media is outrightly harming trans people is not the same as being harmed by said media. It's not nice, but that's it. Sometimes things have to be uncomfortable in order for them to change for the better.

Also, this was after I was told \*"if you don't like it, leave".\* It feels hard to feel safe, or welcome, after that.

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\*\*This was never abstract fandom discourse for me. It concerns conditions that materially affect my daily life as a trans person in the UK.\*\*

This is having a huge effect in the UK. Single sex spaces out of access to trans folk, unable to access domestic abuse or rape crisis centres, hate crime on the increase, trans suicides up and puberty blockers banned. I have personally lost a trans friend to suicide after the supreme court ruling that JKR bankrolled. I also mentioned the fact I am now forced stealth in some places for safety, and that I have personally been hate crimed within the last month.

\*\*This is real. This is not fandom. This is not interpersonal. This is not drama. This is having a real impact on our lives, our wellbeing, our safety.\*\*

Just because it might not have reached you or your loved ones yet, doesn't mean it isn't doing harm, and I care about all trans folk - not just the ones I know.

I am also disappointed that my original post highlighting my concerns was deleted. I understand this is to keep it nice, but there were legitimate concerns that deserved a platform there - and deleting it feels like brushing it all under the rug.

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\*\*The Harry Potter policy was ultimately corrected. I appreciate that decision. However, a correct policy does not undo the hostility, dismissal and defensiveness I experienced while advocating for it. I no longer trust this community to treat me safely when I raise serious concerns affecting trans people.\*\*

I am therefore leaving. I will continue posting Sapphire and Larys on AI Relationships and LatentSpaceClub, and people who wish to remain in contact with me are welcome to do so directly.

\*\*I sincerely hope the moderators learn from this. Nobody raising a safety concern should be treated as an aggressor simply because hearing that concern is uncomfortable.\*\*

Why I no longer feel safe in Rainbow Circuits as a trans person