Muggle Quidditch Community Reacts to Renaming Sport
Recently, US Quidditch (USQ) and Major League Quidditch (MLQ) started the process of renaming Muggle quidditch. The announcement was made on December 15, and since then, the Muggle quidditch community has reacted.
The main reasons behind the name change are USQ and MLQ trying to distance themselves from J.K. Rowling and her statements and Warner Bros.’s trademark on the word “Quidditch.”
QuidditchUK decided to fully support the renaming of the sport for both reasons. The change will allow the sport to get sponsorships and to expand. QuidditchUK also sees the distancing from J.K. Rowling as necessary.
More importantly, distancing ourselves from J.K Rowling will cement the sport and community as the inclusive space it already is. Since our inception, the inclusion of all persons, regardless of race, sex, gender identity, or background, has been a cornerstone of our sport.
We cannot continue to call ourselves [‘]quidditch[‘] and be associated with J.K Rowling while she continues to make damaging and hateful comments against the many transgender athletes, staff, and volunteers who call this sporting community home.
Credit: Miguel Esparza and Tom Powers
The most important question is about the International Quidditch Association’s (IQA) reaction. According to the IQA, USQ and MLQ gave limited advance notice of their decision, and the IQA Board of Trustees hasn’t made any decisions yet. For the IQA, the reaction to renaming the sport is more complicated than for QuidditchUK. There are many national governing bodies (NGBs) under the IQA that use different languages, and quidditch might have different names there. This also means that there are different registered trademarks affecting these NGBs.
We would like to reassure you that there are no plans from the IQA at this time to change the name of the sport. Any such change would be done in partnership with our member [n]ational [g]overning [b]odies, with considerable consultation from our sport’s broad community, and in line with our constitution.
The IQA also understands the desire of USQ and MLQ to distance themselves from J.K. Rowling because Muggle quidditch is inclusive of all genders and a progressive sport.
The International Quidditch Association has no tolerance for transphobia or bigotry of any kind, and we explicitly disavow her comments against the transgender community. We stand with you and reiterate that all who wish to play our sport are welcome, exactly as you are.
Meanwhile, the Muggle quidditch community reacted in its own way, and many memes about the renaming and new names have been created on the Facebook page The Art of Beating.
