'Queer' San Francisco bookstore pulls 'Harry Potter' series after Rowling launches women's legal fund
Booksmith on Haight Street announced on June 10 that it was no longer carrying Rowling's books because of the world-famous author's recent decision to use her personal income from the series to launch a legal fund to help women fight for their "sex-based rights in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces."
The bookseller shared a notice inside their shop and on social media distancing themselves from the author.
"In May of 2025, author J.K. Rowling publicly committed to using her private wealth from the Harry Potter series to develop the 'J.K. Rowling Women's Fund,' an organization dedicated to removing transgender rights 'in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces.' With this announcement, we've decided to stop carrying her books," Booksmith announced.
"We don't know exactly what her new 'women's fund' will entail, but we know that we aren't going to be a part of it," the notice said.
"As a group of queer booksellers, we also had our adolescence shaped by wizards and elves. Look at us, it's obvious. If you or someone you love wants to dive into the world of 'Harry Potter,' we suggest doing so by buying used copies of these books."
The bookstore also included a list of "Not HP" fantasy books it recommended as alternatives to Harry Potter on its website.
Rowling's fund does not mention transgender rights directly. However, the author has faced immense backlash from transgender activists over the past few years for sharing her belief that women's rights are being threatened by the transgender movement.
On the front page of the bookstore's website it asks for donations for a "books, not bans" drive. The bookstore pledged to send "queer, affirmative, necessary" books to communities across the country.
Rowling's representatives and Booksmith did not immediately return a request for comment.
Musician Boy George and actor Pedro Pascal picked fights with the author on social media over Rowling's views this month.
"Bullies make me f------ sick," Pascal, who has a sibling who identifies as transgender, recently told Vanity Fair.
After Boy George called Rowling a "rich, bored bully," earlier this month, she responded with a scathing response, calling out the musician's criminal past and explaining why she believes strongly in keeping biological men out of women's spaces.
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