SoCals new Harry Potter train ride attracts fans, concerns local LGBTQ+ rights activists

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Set us as preferred The Hogwarts Express has arrived in Perris, Calif.The Southern California Railway Museum has temporarily turned into Platform 9 3⁄4 to host “Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Express Adventure.” The one-hour theater performance takes place on a moving train and features singalongs, spellcasting and House cheers.Tickets cost between $72.25 and $93.25 per passenger.The experience is the first of its kind in the United States, said Jarrette Ireland, vice president and general manager of Colorado-based Rail Events Inc., and Kathleen Wallis, vice president of global themed entertainment at New York-based Warner Bros.

Discovery.As of July 23, the experience sold just under 11,000 tickets in pre-sales.The train event commences as the Harry Potter franchise’s author, J.K.Rowling, continues to draw criticism for her opposition toward transgender women.

She has long been criticized for transphobic commentary on X and for funding organizations that fight to exclude trans women from public life.In Perris, local LGBTQ+ activists urge for a boycott.Ashley Williamson, lead director of R.I.S.E.

Perris Pride, said that financially supporting the experience — and anything to do with a Harry Potter trademark — funnels money to Rowling, who puts that wealth toward initiatives targeting trans rights.1 2 3 1.

The cast performs with magic wands in “Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Express Adventure.” 2.A passenger holds a Platform 9 3/4 ticket.

3.The Hogwarts Express conductor performs in “Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Express Adventure.” (David Fouts / For The Times) “What’s really terrifying is that influence.

It’s already being felt in the United States,” Williamson said.“There’s a trans genocide happening.

It’s very serious.”Williamson, who is nonbinary and identifies under the trans umbrella, said it is “already very scary being openly queer in Perris,” where the Harry Pott...