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

Comedian Nikki Glaser appears on The Howard Stern Show to reveal the Golden Globes jokes that didn’t make it to air.
The Howard Stern Show/YouTube

Nikki Glaser Just Revealed The Jokes She Cut From The Golden Globes—And Some Of Them Are Hilariously Brutal

Nikki Glaser not only survived her second Golden Globes hosting gig but came armed with receipts for the jokes that didn’t make it to air.

In a post-ceremony appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the comedian revealed what was cut from her opening monologue at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes look at how close several celebrities came to being absolutely torched on live television.

Keep ReadingShow less
A shot of a person's handcuffed hands held in the air against a white background.
Photo by niu niu on Unsplash

People Break Down Which Things Are Truly A Victimless Crime

Is everything described as a "crime" really a crime?

Some actions are just more... wrong, or naughty.

Keep ReadingShow less

Cheaters Who Never Got Caught Divulge How They Feel About It Now

There's a long-running saying that once a person cheats, they will eventually cheat again.

While that might not be true for everyone, and mistakes absolutely do happen, a lot of that repetition comes from how remorseful or guilty a person feels as a result of cheating on their partner.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jesse Kortuem; Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams in 'Heated Rivalry'
Jesse Kortuem/Facebook; Crave/HBO Max

Hockey Player Comes Out As Gay In Powerful Post After Being Inspired By 'Heated Rivalry'

Recently, Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams told Andy Cohen he's been flooded with messages from closeted gay athletes thanking him for his work on the show.

Now, the impact of the Crave and HBO series has gone up a notch, with hockey player Jesse Kortuem coming out publicly after being inspired by the show.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ilona Maher
@ilonamaher/TikTok

Olympian Ilona Maher Perfectly Shuts Down Body-Shaming Troll Who Said She Looks 'Pregnant' In Dress

It might be 2026, but there are still people out there with totally unattainable—and biologically impossible—standards for women and their bodies.

A key example is shaming a woman for not having a totally flat stomach. Meanwhile, this is a totally normal feature of a woman's body because it is where a woman's uterus is, and what we're seeing from the outside is the body's protective barrier for that and other organs.

Keep ReadingShow less