‘This will not happen again’: Vancouver Park Board apologizes for hosting Harry Potter event

The Vancouver Park Board has voted unanimously to apologize after a Harry Potter-themed attraction in Stanley Park drew backlash from LGBTQ2SAI+ groups.

A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.

Members of the city’s transgender, gender diverse and Two Spirit communities had expressed concerns about the decision to partner with the event this holiday season due to its association with J.K. Rowling, author of the seven Harry Potter novels.

Some spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, include Rob Hadley, a member of Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQ+ advisory committee—and someone who previously read the books to their own children.

“This has been a difficult thing for a lot of us,” Hadley told CTV News. “The fact is, we don’t want to stand in the way of kids having a fantastic Christmas experience. The issue lies in the question of revenues going to someone who is a transphobe.”

Rowling has denied her views are transphobic, but the billionaire author has battled with transgender individuals on social media for years—once suggesting trans “ideology” will “end up wreaking more harm than lobotomies”—and recently launched a legal fund to support challenges to trans-inclusionary policies in women’s spaces in the U.K. and Ireland.

Vancouver has embraced such policies since 2016 through the Transgender, Gender Diverse and Two Spirit Action Plan.

Addressing the meeting, Ky Sargeant, of the non-profit group Qmunity, celebrated those efforts as having had a “measurable” impact on the lives of trans residents.

“It is in part because of that trust that has been cultivated over these years that news of this event was met with such an intense shock and disappointment,” Sargeant said.

The decision was also troubling as trans rights and protections are clawed back in other jurisdictions, Sargeant added, including in the U.S. where President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this year to eliminate “gender ideology” and ban trans people from military service.

“More than ever what trans people in this city are looking for is that Vancouver continues to be a place insulated from these attacks, where people can feel safe,” Sargeant said.

In addition to issuing an apology, Tuesday’s motion, put forward by commissioner Tom Digby, asked the board to reaffirm its support for inclusionary policies, and to ensure the S2LGBTQ+ advisory committee is consulted on any future events with “equity or human rights implications.”

Several commissioners said they were unfamiliar with Rowling’s political activism when they approved the attraction, Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience, which was done in a closed-door meeting without a chance for public input.

“When decisions are made in the dark, these are the kinds of mistakes that happen,” said vice-chair Brennan Bastyovanszky.

Going forward, he said, the city will seek to partner on events that “reflect the actual magic of this city, which is in how we actually treat each other.”

Each commissioner present offered a personal apology to the trans community as well, with Angela Haer promising, “This will not happen again.”

Addressing the meeting, Hadley acknowledged the popularity of the Harry Potter series and the excitement many have for attending the event, but suggested there could have been other options that would have been “palatable for everybody.”

“A lot of people who have read the books have done as I have, and put those books up for sale,” Hadley added. “And donated the funds to transgender charities.”

City staff have said they expect the Harry Potter event, put on by Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences, will bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, with the most expensive “deluxe bundle” tickets costing $117 for children and $135 for adults. The board was unable to confirm how many tickets had been sold as of Tuesday.

CTV News previously reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences for comment on Digby’s motion, and received an acknowledgment but not a response.