California Bookstore Pulls J.K. Rowling Books from Shelves over Author’s Defense of Sex-Based Women’s Rights

A bookstore in San Francisco will no longer carry books by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling after she announced the creation of a fund to support sex-based women’s rights.

The Booksmith said it would no longer sell titles by the author because the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund is “dedicated to removing transgender rights.” The store wrote, “We don’t know exactly what her her ‘women’s fund’ will entail, but we know that we aren’t going to be a part of it.”

“As a group of queer booksellers, we also had our adolescents shaped by wizards and elves. Look at us, it’s obvious,” the statement read. The Booksmith recommended that those who wish to read Harry Potter purchase used copies. It also provided a list of similar children’s and young adult fantasy books, including Rick Riordan’s “The Heroes of Olympus” series.

Booksmith co-owner Camden Avery told The San Francisco Standard, “We don’t have the luxury of pretending anymore that anything that we do is not related to this political moment, this imperialist, fascist regime that we’re trying to survive. Avery believes Rowling is “doing really harmful, awful s*** with her money, and the more people who know, the better.”

The store previously stopped selling books by author Neil Gaiman after he was accused of rape.

Rowling announced her Women’s Fund in May to offer “legal funding support to individuals and organisations fighting to retain women’s sex-based rights in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces.” The writer identifies as a feminist and has been frequently criticized by the LGBT community for her views critical of transgenderism. Celebrities, including Pedro Pascal and Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the films, have also criticized Rowling’s activism.

Rowling has refused to back down, and recently posted on X, “I don’t believe in codifying and reifying gendered expectations, I believe in breaking them. I’m appalled that minors are being medicalised, sterilised and deprived of sexual function because they feel discomfort with the roles they’re expected to play as boys/girls.”

Rowling is the highest-paid author of all time, and the Harry Potter series has sold more than 600 million copies worldwide. Her net worth is estimated to be close to $1 billion. The Harry Potter film adaptations grossed almost $10 billion, while a new television show is in development at HBO Max with Rowling as a producer.

A spokesman told NR Rowling was not available for comment. Booksmith did not respond to an email from NR.