Quidditch, the real-world sport inspired by the game played in the air by wizards in “Harry Potter,” changed its name Tuesday because people are offended by J.K. Rowling.
The sport will now be known as “quadball,” according to the sport’s two governing bodies in North America. U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball both released statements this week announcing the new name. Both governing bodies said in a joint statement that the International Quidditch Association is planning to adopt the new name, as well.
“The IQA is very excited to be going USQ and MLQ in changing the name of our sport and supporting this change across our members worldwide,” the statement said.
Introducing ✨quadball✨
Following the results of polling conducted earlier we, jointly with @MLQuidditch, are excited to announce quadball 🤾♂️ as the new name for our sport. @IQASport also plans to adopt the name.
More details: https://t.co/ZcpXTF8wGG
📸 Mike Iadevaia pic.twitter.com/UDEG7RRGX5— US Quadball (@usquadball) July 19, 2022
The organization changed the name to distance itself from Rowling over her comments on the transgender community, which have been criticized as transphobic, and so that the organizations own the trademark. Neither organization owned the “quidditch” trademark, which is owned by Warner Bros., according to CNN. The USQ and MLQ will own the trademark for “quadball” in the United States.
Rowling has been increasingly vocal about her views on transgender people. She posted several tweets that garnered blowback, including from “Harry Potter” stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. In June 2020, the “Harry Potter” author criticized an article on Twitter that referred to women as “people who menstruate,” according to NBC News. (RELATED: J.K. Rowling Faces Deluge Of Attacks From LGBTQ+ Community Over Transgender Tweet)
‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate https://t.co/cVpZxG7gaA
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
Both organizations have denounced Rowling’s positions. A 2021 statement noted that the 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 bars a team from having more than four players of the same gender on the field at once.
The sport, first played in the real world in 2005, expanded to 40 countries and has almost 600 teams, according to CNN.