Any distance from the writer is good distance.
The real-life sport of quidditch will rebrand as quadball in an attempt to distance itself from the Harry Potter franchise and its creator, the transphobic J.K. Rowling.
Two governing bodies of the sport have already made the change — U.S. Quadball (USQ) and Major League Quadball (MLQ) — while the International Quidditch Association (IQA) is expected to follow suit soon.
“The IQA is very excited to be joining USQ and MLQ in changing the name of our sport and supporting this change across our members worldwide,” said Chris Lau, chair of the IQA Board of Trustees.
“We are confident in this step and we look forward to all the new opportunities quadball will bring. This is an important moment in our sport’s history, and I personally am thrilled to be a part of it.”
Both the USQ and MLQ issued a joint statement last year in response to transphobic comments issued by Rowling. At the same time, they began to discuss a name change.
“Our sport has developed a reputation as one of the most progressive sports in the world on gender equality and inclusivity, in part thanks to its gender maximum rule, which stipulates that a team may not have more than four players of the same gender on the field at a time,” the statement read.
“Both organizations feel it is imperative to live up to this reputation in all aspects of their operations and believe this move is a step in that direction.”
The IQA says that quadball is played by close to 600 different teams in 40 different countries.
Rowling’s transphobia has also become a point of contention within the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy.
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