Due to author JK Rowling’s hateful anti-trans crusades, The Booksmith in San Francisco has given Harry Potter the boot from its shelves.

Though Rowling has used her wealth and platform to push transphobia for a while now, the final straw for the Booksmith was when she announced the “JK Rowling Women’s Fund,” which offers legal funding to “individuals and organisations fighting to retain women’s sex-based rights in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces.” (“Sex-based rights” is used as a dogwhistle in trans-exclusionary circles.)

The Booksmith now has a sign on its shelves saying that it has decided it cannot support Rowling.

“As a group of queer booksellers, we also had our adolescents 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 sign reads.

READ MORE: J. K. Rowling Compares ‘Transgender Hormone Therapy to Gay Conversion Therapy’

A slightly longer version of the statement appears on the Booksmith’s website, which includes a list of potential alternatives to Rowling’s series.

“Or, even better, please find below a list of bookseller-curated suggestions for books we genuinely love that also might fit the HP brief for you and yours. Many are series; some are standalone,” the site reads. “Happy reading, solidarity forever.”

The suggestions include the Morrigan Crow series by Jessica Townsend, the Earthsea books by science fiction legend Ursula K. LeGuin and The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy.

Booksmith co-owner Camden Avery told The San Francisco Standard why the store has stopped carrying the books.

“There’s a direct throughline between what [Rowling’s] doing with the money she’s making on book sales as a living author who’s still collecting royalties, and something that, frankly, harms us and our trans siblings and people that we care about in our community,” he said.

“Some people are like, ‘Enough with the politics. Just be a bookstore,’” Avery added. “But we don’t have the luxury of pretending anymore that anything that we do is not related to this political moment, this imperialist, fascist regime that we’re trying to survive.”

Though there were hints before, Rowling’s public transphobia became a large part of her online presence starting in 2020 when she wrote an essay claiming trans activists were specifically trying to “erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.” She’s used her wealth and power to fund anti-trans activism—including a long campaign to get the UK government to exclude trans women from the legal definition of “woman.” The UK Supreme Court ruled trans women weren’t covered by the 2010 Equality Act this April.

Her transphobia has turned previous friends and allies against her. Most recently, that includes out gay actor Stephen Fry, who read the audiobook version of the Harry Potter series. Last week, Fry spoke out against her, calling her a “lost cause.”

“She seemed to wake up or kick a hornet’s nest of transphobia which has been entirely destructive. I disagree profoundly with her on this subject. I am angry she does not disavow some of the more revolting and truly horrible, violently destructive things that people say. She does not attack those at all,” Fry said.

The stars of the original Harry Potter film series, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, have also cut ties with the author over her transphobic views.

“To the person who said they like me best when I am not ranting about politics: I like me best when I am not ignoring fascism,” Watson said on Instagram following the UK Supreme Court Equality Act ruling.

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A video appears to show U.S. Capitol Police officers arresting disabled protesters in wheelchairs as the Senate debates cuts to medicare funding.

The video, posted to Bluesky by Aaron Black, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)’s senior political advisor, shows Capitol Police swarming the Russell Senate Office Building, escorting disabled protesters from the building, with zip ties around the protesters’ wrists.

People in wheelchairs are getting arrested right now in the Russell Senate Office Building in DC. They showed up to tell Congress not to cut their Medicaid, because they cant afford health care without it. If you look closely you can see the zip ties on their hands. #WeWontGetOverLosingMedicaid

— Aaron Black (@aaronblack.bsky.social) 2025-06-25T18:26:25.367Z

“People in wheelchairs are getting arrested right now in the Russell Senate Office Building in DC. They showed up to tell Congress not to cut their Medicaid, because they cant afford health care without it. If you look closely you can see the zip ties on their hands,” Black wrote alongside the video clip.

READ MORE: Bernie Sanders Says ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Strip Health Insurance From 16 Million People

The people in the clip were protesting the proposed budget cuts to Medicaid spending in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” The president’s proposed budget would cut Medicaid spending by $793 billion across 10 years. Medicaid currently costs the U.S. government about $606 billion per year, covering 69% of its total funding. The additional 31%, $274 billion, comes from individual states, according to health policy organization KFF.

The House saw similar scenes as disabled protesters protested the Big Beautiful Bill in May. During that protest, one person shouted “You will kill me!” while police escorted her from a meeting of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, according to the Independent. In addition to cuts, the bill requires states decide every six months on whether or not individual patients are eligible for Medicaid.

“There are lots of people with disabilities … who may not meet the specific social security definition, but who absolutely do have disabilities,” Katy Neas, the CEO of the Arc, a disability advocacy group, told The Independent.

During that protest, 26 people were arrested, according to WJLA. Capitol police said protesting inside congressional buildings is illegal. The law also prohibits protesting on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

The proposed cuts to Medicaid are controversial. An analysis published by the Annals of Internal Medicine said they could result in the additional deaths of as many as 24,600 people per year. According to a new report by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) office, the cuts would also result in, on average, 65% more uninsured people per state.

The office of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a new report showing that President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” would have devastating effects on the number of uninsured Americans over the next 10 years.

Sanders announced the report Wednesday in a Senate hearing about Trump’s budget proposal passed by the House. In a clip posted to his official Bluesky account, Sanders called out the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and its chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), for not commissioning a report itself.

We must not throw 16 million low-income and working class Americans off of the health care they have in order to give massive tax breaks to billionaires.That is obscene.

— Senator Bernie Sanders (@sanders.senate.gov) 2025-06-25T16:56:03.776Z

“Since this committee has refused to bring health care providers before us, I am releasing today a report on the impact that this legislation would have on our nation’s health care system. Committee didn’t do it. We did it. And I did that by reaching out to health care providers all across this country. And let me thank the over 750 health care providers from 47 states, probably every state represented here, who responded to our request,” Sanders said.

READ MORE: ‘Pushed Up to the Edge of the Cliff’: GOP Proposals Would Kick Millions Off Health Care

The Big Beautiful Bill includes a cut to Medicaid spending of $793 billion across 10 years. Medicaid currently costs the U.S. government about $606 billion per year, which covers 69% of its total funding. The additional 31%, $274 billion, comes from individual states, according to health policy organization KFF. These cuts could result in the deaths of as many as 24,600 people per year, according to an analysis published by the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Sanders’ report breaks out the rate of uninsured people across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, between 2023 and 2034. While every state has an increase of at least 20%, the average increase is 65%. Three states—New York, Washington and Massachusetts—will more than double the amount of uninsured people, while the District of Columbia’s number of uninsured will go up by a staggering 229%.

The report also includes quotes from health care providers talking about how the Big Beautiful Bill would affect them.

“If Medicaid is cut, my patients will die. I realize I am being dramatic. It is a dramatic situation.” Dr. Helen Pope of Louisiana told Sanders’ office. “They are humans who are doing their best. Please don’t allow them to suffer more.”

“The provisions would ultimately make healthcare more expensive and less accessible while paradoxically making Medicaid unsustainable. When patients lose access to preventive care, they rely on emergency services and dangerous self-treatment, both driving up costs for everyone. Medicaid allows us to treat and prevent disabling conditions like diabetes and hypertension—without it, these become irreversible.” Dr. Nikhil Kurapati of Ohio said.

“These cuts will cause rural hospitals in Texas to close entirely. As a neurologist, I am terrified that the closest hospital for many rural folks may then be hours away. During an ischemic stroke, there is only 3 hours of precious time . . . the increased travel time may cause unnecessary cases of paralysis and death.” Dr. Audrey Nath of Texas told the senator’s office.

Trump has tried to cut Medicaid before, failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act during his first term. Despite Trump’s efforts, government-assisted health care is still widely popular, with 57% of Americans saying the government should ensure health care, according to a 2023 Gallup poll. Health care in the U.S. ranks last out of 11 high income countries, according to a 2021 study by the Commonwealth Fund.

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