J.K. Rowling, Who Writes About Werewolves and Animagi, Directs Her Ire at People Who Do Pup Play

On Sunday, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling responded to a person criticizing her anti-transgender views by pointing out his fetish gear and making fun of his glasses … you know, the thing that the central character of her uber-famous book series also wears!The exchange began earlier that day, when X user @pup_shay responded to a post of Rowling’s, in which she called out the LGBTQ+ rights organization Stonewall UK for what she billed as its “maximalist position” on trans rights. Her comments were in response to a Guardian interview, published Sunday, in which Stonewall U.K. CEO Simon Blake spoke about the group’s messaging during what has been a turbulent time for trans rights. “Progress takes time. You’ve got to coalesce, to convene, sometimes you’ve got to be pragmatic,” Blake said of the LGBTQ+ nonprofit’s shifting strategy. In a response to Rowling’s post, @pup_shay lambasted Rowling, saying “you paint trans women as predators. You weaponize gay folk like myself to support that narrative. You capitalize on the fear of predation by cisgender men.” He continued, “So take it from a a 38 year old gay man who was once a child positively devouring your books. Fuck. Off.” Though Rowling receives numerous fiery replies to her tweets, especially ones about her stance on trans issues, she decided not to highlight @pup_shay’s full response, but rather his profile picture, in which he is seen wearing a pup mask and glasses. “I must have been told to fuck off by at least a thousand men in fetish fear by now, but for God’s sake try contacts,” Rowling said. “You’re easily the stupidest looking I’ve ever seen, @pup_shay_.” Following Rowling’s tweet, Shay faced a deluge of homophobic, racist, transphobic and Islamophobic posts. He tagged Rowling in many of the replies he received. Aside from calling @pup_shay numerous slurs, Shay says he also received death threats following Rowling’s highlighting of his profile picture and user