Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trans Paralympian Has Perfect Response After JK Rowling Accuses Her Of Being A 'Cheat'

Valentina Petrillo; JK Rowling
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images; Euan Cherry/Getty Images

Italian Paralympic sprinter Valentina Petrillo, who is transgender, opened up to reporters about the 'Harry Potter' author's demeaning comments.

Harry Potter author and virulent transphobe JK Rowling apparently was not swayed by the cyberbullying lawsuit filed against her by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif after she baselessly accused Khelif of being trans.

Now Rowling has once again resumed her favorite pastime of attacking trans people for no reason, this time she set her sights on Italian Paralympic sprinter Valentina Petrillo, who is transgender and visually impaired.


Petrillo recently opened up to the press about enduring Rowling's branding of her as an "out and proud cheat," and her response is frankly a master class in shade.

In an interview with UK newspaper The Times, Petrillo openly celebrated the fact that she's attracted so much of Rowling's attention despite not really knowing much about the writer.

“I’m flattered that Rowling is talking about me. I’ve never even read 'Harry Potter.' I’m told she wrote it but I didn’t read it."

She then mocked the approach to gender found in Rowling's own iconic works.

"I was told that she wrote about a sport where there is no gender. So, I was expecting different behavior from Rowling."

Petrillo's comments come after Rowling bloviated at length about Petrillo in a thread on X, in which she sarcastically wrote:

“The cheat community has never had this kind of visibility. Out and proud cheats like Petrillo prove the era of cheat-shaming is over. What a role model. I say we give [disgraced cyclist] Lance Armstrong his medals back and move on. #Cheats #NoShame.”

In a follow-up post, Rowling went on to play her favorite game in which she pretends to have no problem with MOST transgender people, just the ones she deems to be supposedly fraudulent women using their gender to cheat her and other women out of, in this case, *checks notes* Paralympic titles she didn't even win.

“Stereotypes are simplistic/prejudiced blanket assumptions about a demographic that don’t correlate with the facts. I know all trans people aren’t cheats."
"However, knowing you have an unfair advantage and exploiting it anyway is pretty much the textbook definition of cheating.”

And using your power as a world-famous billionaire cultural figure to repeatedly attack people who've done absolutely nothing to you is pretty much the textbook definition of deranged, debilitating insecurity.

On social media, many people applauded Petrillo for speaking out against Rowling.





Petrillo also noted to The Times that, contrary to Rowling's seeming obsession with her gender, her fellow Paralympians have welcomed her with open arms and she's never felt so accepted as she has in the Olympic Village.

More from News/lgbtq

Bowen Yang
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Bowen Yang Gets Candid About Why He Decided To Leave 'SNL' After His Sudden Exit

Bowen Yang, who's well-known for his work on Saturday Night Live and his role in Wicked and Wicked: For Good, stepped off of the SNL stage for the last time, mid-season, after being a writer and performer for the past eight seasons.

During his final skit, Yang starred opposite Ariana Grande, with the couple playing a married couple. Grande was waiting for Bowen to come from after his final shift before retiring from working at an airport.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kyle Rittenhouse
Sean Krajacic-Pool/Getty Images

Kyle Rittenhouse Blasted Over Sociopathic Post Following ICE Shooting In Minneapolis

Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse sparked outrage after he offered to travel to Minnesota following ICE's fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed Good “weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.” But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey pushed back against this narrative considering witnesses described seeing Good in the vehicle trying to flee officers when she was shot.

Keep ReadingShow less
LEGO's 'SMART Brick'
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

Lego Just Unveiled Their New Tech-Heavy 'Smart Brick'—But Not Everyone Is Excited About It

LEGO has long been known for its fostering of creativity, independent play, and imaginative designs, both in their LEGO sets and free-form bricks.

Parents have long hailed LEGO as a viable option for fostering creativity and critical thinking, even when faced with the frustrations of children not cleaning up all of the pieces and the pains of potentially stepping on them.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams
Bryan Bedder/Athlos/Getty Images

Serena Williams' Husband Just Stepped In To Defend Her From Accusations That She's Lightening Her Skin

When the Williams family burst onto the scene in the tennis world as juniors, an inordinate amount of discourse focused on Venus and Serena's appearance. The Williams sisters weren't the first Black people—men or women—to play tennis at an international level, but they quickly achieved heights that set them on the path to legendary status.

The heightened attention brought with it a lot of racist and colorist comments about their hair, their skin, and their bodies—especially Serena's more muscular and curvy body.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Fox News

Trump Roasted After Berating Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer For Making Him Look 'Heavy'

On Tuesday as MAGA Republican President Donald Trump addressed House Republicans at the Kennedy Center, he gave a special shout out to one of the press photographers present.

Trump pointed out New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning Doug Mills.

Keep ReadingShow less