Harry Potter: Cho Chang Actor Katie Leung Responds to J.K. Rowling’s Transphobic Tweets

Yesterday, Harry Potter author JK Rowling came under fire for a series of transphobic tweets. This [...]

By Jamie Jirak - June 7, 2020 01:01 pm EDT

Yesterday, Harry Potter author JK Rowling came under fire for a series of transphobic tweets. This is not the first time the author has upset the trans community, but yesterday's backlash was especially hefty, with many of Rowling's characters starting to trend on Twitter as a response to her actions. People brought up the fact that Cho Chang, the only East Asian character in the series, was given a racist name. After "Cho Chang" started to trend, one important person chimed in: Katie Leung, the actor who played Cho in the Harry Potter films.

"So, you want my thoughts on Cho Chang? Okay, here goes...(thread)," Leung began. However, rather than actually write anything about the character she played, the actor shared a thread of places to donate or help the Black trans community. This was especially powerful considering many people criticized Rowling for choosing to go off on Twitter about trans people during a time when the Black Lives Matter movement should be taking focus. You can check out Leung's tweets below:

https://t.co/X2iZBPzII4
— Katie Leung (@Kt_Leung) June 7, 2020

https://t.co/KfknS0I6wP
— Katie Leung (@Kt_Leung) June 7, 2020

#AsiansForBlackLives
— Katie Leung (@Kt_Leung) June 7, 2020

In case you missed it, here is a small sample of the tweets to hit the social media site last night condemning Rowling for using the name Cho Chang...

"Speaks For Itself"

All I got to say is that as an Asian woman that a character being named Cho Chang in a world where people's names are interesting like "Nymphadora Tonks" is nothing. I have nothing else to say. It speaks for itself.
— Aprilyn Cunanan 🐑 (@aprilynacunanan) June 6, 2020

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Important Reminder

please STOP saying that cho chang was the *only* asian in harry potter. the patil twins were indian which means they’re south asian.

this still doesn’t change the fact that she named the character “cho chang” or the fact that there was bare minimum asian representation. pic.twitter.com/ImM1OOCDzp
— ♏︎ (@vxxxdhxxx) June 7, 2020

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Time To Vent

I love how cho Chang is trending. Gotta get that one off my chest. Jk Rowling gave the one chinese character the name equivalent of ching Chong. Then that character ended up being a snitching ass square. And did literally nothing in the series but date people.
— Kimmy The Pooh (@kimmythepooh) June 7, 2020

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A Cho Breakdown

This is every line spoken by Cho Chang in all 8 of the Harry Potter films. Most are her saying “Harry!” like “Harry!! I really am sorry!” and “You’re a really good teacher, Harry.” 🤦🏻‍♀️https://t.co/QfG0MZlOgF
— Nancy Wang Yuen (@nancywyuen) June 7, 2020

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"Miserable Person"

you made jewish people be goblins and the only east asian person in your books named “cho chang” lmfao you’re a miserable person
— Mohammad (@WongKarWax) June 6, 2020

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Welcome

Hi I’m JK R0wling. I love black Hermione. Wizards used to shit on the floor. House elves love being slaves. My only Asian character is named Cho Chang. Welcome to my dark twisted fantasy
— Kate Leth ⚔️ (@kateleth) June 6, 2020

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An Odd Hill To Die On

jk rowling: *is viciously transphobic, homophobic, named the only asian character in her series cho chang, has committed various other acts of racism*

also jk rowling: if you disagree with me you hate women
— rini. (@baumbachbitch) June 6, 2020

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Fantastic Beasts Didn't Help

As long as we are talking about Cho Chang, can we remember that she also made a Korean actress play Nagini, the pet snake of an evil white man? That shit is still horrifying to me.
— Ellen "This is the Revolution" Oh (@ElloEllenOh) June 7, 2020

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Rightfully Angry

Cho Chang is trending. Over 20 years after she was introduced in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, people are expressing irritation that JK Rowling lazily named her only East Asian character Cho Fucking Chang. Yes, we've been holding on to this one for a long time.
— Angry Asian Man (@angryasianman) June 7, 2020

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Think Before You Tweet

This is an opportunity to learn from your past brilliance: as a white woman, you were were SO close to naming the one asian character “CHING CHONG”, but you took PAUSE & showed magnificent RESTRAINT & bravely named her “CHO CHANG” instead!

Use that same *pause* when you tweet💗
— Patti Harrison (@Party_Harderson) June 6, 2020

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Twitter: A Summary

Log on twitter to see JK Rowling, Dumbledore, Cho Chang, and Hermione trending. Got excited until I saw why pic.twitter.com/YIG8IYi5Ub
— Lauren🌸 (@LaurenMcGuire4) June 7, 2020

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