Why Do People Care About a Trans Artist Rebinding Harry Potter Books?

I do not get it. I refuse to get it.

by Evan Urquhart

Let me level with you, here: I daw the coverage of a nonbinary bookbinder who rebinds Harry Potter books with J. K. Rowlings name removed when the story popped up on the right wing UK tabloid, the Daily Mail. “Wow, these guys are really reaching for any sort of J. K. Rowling/trans content,” I thought to myself. It did not occur to me to write anything up.

I also skipped the story when I saw it had in the New York Post. “This is just some rando who has rebound like 30 Harry Potter books for a handful of clients,” I thought. “No one can possibly find this interesting at all.”

But today, when I saw that the WASHINGTON FREAKING POST now had a story about Laur Flom, the transgender artist who rebinds Harry Potter books for queer fans who want to take a symbolic swipe at Rowling’s transphobia while continuing to enjoy their childhood faves, I finally gave in.

All power to Laur Flom. They seem great, I hope they make a chunk of money. It’s cool that they’re donating some the proceeds to charity or whatever. I just don’t understand why a very, very small business in rebinding Harry Potter books is national news, not just among right wing tabloids, but in the mainstream press as well. But, apparently, it is. So maybe I’ve done a disservice to my readers by thinking this website should be focused on more substantive things. I don’t know!