Anti-trans activist caught reading explicit Harry Potter fanfic says it was for, uh… research

An anti-trans activist who has claimed fan fiction turns kids trans said she was just doing research when busted reading pornographic Harry Potter fan fiction on a train.

Helen Joyce is the director of advocacy for the British anti-trans organization Sex Matters and has spent several years blaming fan fiction for influencing teenagers assigned female at birth to come out as trans.

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A social media user who recently sat near Joyce and other Sex Matters staff on a train claimed they were reading over Joyce’s shoulder as she messaged the Sex Matters staff about “single-sex spaces” on her phone before switching tabs and reading Harry Potter fan fiction.

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“I’m 1000% certain I have seen the phrases/words: Hermione, Granger, Mudblood, breasts…’The pulse in his cock was almost unbearable,'” the user wrote, having previously explained Joyce’s phone was set to large letter type.

“In the meantime I realised she’s there with two other leaders of sex matters and they’re organising some event,” the user wrote. “One of them is on the phone to talk about some Guardian article and the other one is editing the sex matters website. All while Helen is casually scrolling Harry Potter porn… Can’t make that sh*t up.”

The fan fiction has been identified as Mudblood, a story written in 2019 that reportedly involves a sexual relationship between the characters of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger.

In response to the accusations, Sex Matters released a statement that all but confirmed Joyce was reading Mudblood, explaining that it was part of her work.

“In the context of her work countering the pernicious influence of gender-identity ideology, Helen has done a great deal of research on how young people – especially girls – develop trans identities,” the statement said.

“In her writing and speaking she has often covered the significant role of fan fiction in this process. She has written about this for The Economist and her own newsletter, and spoken about the topic in several podcast interviews.”

Joyce also posted about her research on X, seemingly to explain her choice of reading material, though not explicitly referencing the accusation.

“The role of fan fiction in young women’s adoption of trans identities is an ongoing research project of mine – it’s incredibly powerful, and hardly anyone knows about it,” she wrote.

Joyce is also a big fan of anti-trans Harry Potter author JK Rowling. She recently reposted a message on X that called Rowling a “principled, high-profile” woman who is “courageous enough to keep speaking out against this anti-woman ideology.”