Episode 6 of The Witch Trials of JK Rowling begins with host, Megan Phelps Roper, talking a bit about her background.

Phelps Roper was part of the infamous Westboro “God Hates Fags” Baptist church in her younger years. Many have called out the ideologies of Westboro as bigotry. Phelps-Roper grew up on the quackery of Westboro Baptist Church. This from 11 years ago:

Phelps Roper sounds off on her past:

For me, bigotry is not an accusation that I can take lightly. And that’s because for a long time, I was a notorious bigot.From the time I was five years old, I can be found almost every day protesting alongside my family as proud members of the Westboro Baptist Church. We saw ourselves as the bibical prophets, warning people they needed to obey God, or else suffer His curses in this life and hell in the next. And we proudly defended our views.”-Megan Phelps Roper

Megan left the Westboro Baptist Church when she was 26 years old. And wrestled with these troubling questions:

How was it that I could be so certain that I was right and still be so wrong for so long? How was it that my critics, even the ones who would threaten and attack us, had seen reality more clearly than I had? And, most terrifying of all, how can I ever trust my own mind again?”-Megan Phelps Roper

In the midst of the great JK Rowling debates of to cancel or not to cancel, Phelps Roper sought out a few voices-the voices of Natalie and Noah.

Natalie Wynn, born a biological male, is the host of ContraPoints, a YouTube channel that provides commentary on hot issues-along with philosophical, intellectual fodder for debate. Wynn, is, after all, a former philosophy major. Wynn also transitioned in 2017. Wynn is far from a Conservative, however. This self-proclaimed atheist supported Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and is a fan of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Wynn admits to having grown up with JK Rowling’s works. She believes JK Rowling’s “bigotry” was “indirect bigotry” (but still bigotry). Wynn believes that sex changes for kids (AKA “gender-affirming care”) is not rushed and that the moral panic in the United States is “overstated”. Natalie Wynn also does not understand the outrage of trans individuals and bathrooms. Wynn believes all of this is just “generating paranoia”. And while Natalie Wynn waxes a bit emotional on JK Rowling’s tweets that shocked the trans world, the host of ContraPoints did say at one point that hyper-woke spaces are uncomfortable. This coming from someone who is, by definition: hyper-woke.

Phelps Roper also talks to Noah, a 17 year-old trans male from California who just had top surgery. Noah talked about difficulties with depression, identity and feeling uncomfortable. As a young child, Noah had a therapist who suspected that gender dysphoria was contributing to the body insecurities and to the depression and identity crisis Noah was experiencing. Noah recounts telling his parents about the desire to transition to a male. Noah, a very articulate 17 year-old had this to say about JK Rowling’s influence:

I’ve read the books four times, I know what house I’m in, I have, I brought my Harry Potter wand that I made up of hot glue and a chopstick, to prove that I have stake in this conversation, I made that when I was like 7. Um, I’m a Gryffindor, I have my Gryffindor letterman’s jacket in my closet that I wore, even way past when it was remotely cool. I have my golden snitch right here, I’m such a big Harry Potter fan-was such a big Harry Potter fan. Especially because it was o hard to be in the real world. I can’t even state how important it was to me. JK Rowling, I stole her biography from my third grade classroom and I kept it for a long time because I loved reading it and I admired her so much. And some part of her shaped who I am and got me through so much and her work is so important to me now, in so many ways and, she just really taught me to believe in beauty.”-Noah

Note, neither of these trans individuals called JK Rowling a bigot, a transphobe, a hater, a horrible human being-a Voldemort. They did not have epic temper tantrums on TikTok whilst screaming obscenities. They left that to some of the straight liberals who are Harry Potter fans. There, there, marginalized trans Americans. The virtue-signaling, lawn-sign mafia have you. I mean, what would Richard Dawkins say?

In fact, both Natalie and Noah were more complimentary to Rowling than critical of her. They weren’t claiming to be victims here. To me, this is amazing considering there are individuals who are not of the transgender persuasion-white, middle-aged heterosexual men and women who are willing to jump down one’s throat for remotely agreeing ever-so slightly with JK Rowling when she floats the concept of a man using a bathroom under the pretense of being a trans-woman as dangerous. They are willing to burn her books and burn her house down for even floating the concept that women are gradually being erased. And, there are those that also have a platform who are ready, willing and able to pounce when they grab a pen or take to a keyboard of any kind. Take this from a write up this past Sunday:

I have no interest in ever revisiting the Harry Potter books, but I’m pretty sure I remember why the Death Eaters were living in secret. It wasn’t because they were part of an oppressed group. It was because they chose to hate and hurt people who they saw as ‘lesser’ and were rightfully punished for it. I definitely remember the Death Eaters’ philosophy wasn’t ‘you disagree with us, you must die.’ It was more along the lines of, ‘You were born a certain way and because of that we want to terrorize you, cast you out of society and ultimately kill you.'”

That sounds a lot more like one side of this ‘debate’ than the other.”-Sara Barrett, The Mary Sue

Good. Don’t revisit the books. My guess is JK Rowling would be just fine without you, Sara. And as far as the side of the debate you are on? Have you looked in the mirror lately, Oh Voldemort?

Photo Credit: Original Artwork by VG, Darleen Click