JK Rowling has deleted a tweet expressing her love of fellow author Stephen King, after he confirmed that he supports trans women.
The Harry Potter author, who has been embroiled in a row over transgender issues for the past few weeks, had tweeted about Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who accused her of “using” her experience with domestic abuse to promote discrimination against the trans community. He has since apologised “unreservedly”.
Rowling shared a quote from the late feminist and writer Andrea Dworkin about how men treat women’s opinions as if they are “acts of violence”, in a post that must have resonated with King, who retweeted it on his own feed.
In response, Rowling tweeted that her love for King had reached “new heights”.
She added: “It’s so much easier for men to ignore women’s concerns, or to belittle them, but I won’t ever forget the men who stood up when they didn’t need to. Thank you, Stephen.”
However, after being pressed by a fan on where he stood on transgender issues, King tweeted: “Trans women are women.”
While his clarification appeased some fans, it appears to have irked Rowling, who has since deleted her tweet praising King. Some social media users have also speculated that she unfollowed him on Twitter.
Rowling's views on transgender rights has caused widespread debate over the past month.
A number of writers at her agency, The Blair Partnership, quit last week in protest over her views. Several stars of the Harry Potter franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe, Evanna Lynch, and Emma Watson, have voiced their opposition to Rowling’s comments.
