“Harry Potter” author J. who lives in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. K. Rowling (JK Rowling) has openly challenged Scotland’s new law on hate crimes, which has recently come into force, on social networks and has called on the police to arrest her if they consider her comments offensive, the British broadcaster BBC reports on Tuesday, April 2.
The Hate Crime and Public Order Act 2021 creates a new crime in Scotland – ‘inciting hatred’ in relation to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or intersex.
Although the law does not protect women as a group from hate, it is expected that the Scottish Government will later include the issue in a separate misogyny law.
Rowling, a vocal critic of transgender activists, spoke out on the website X on the day Scotland’s new hate crime law came into effect.
She criticized this legislation, arguing that it
trans people’s feelings are given more value than “the rights and freedoms of real women and girls”
especially when it comes to violence against women.
“Freedom of speech and belief in Scotland is at risk when accurate biological gender descriptions are criminalised,” Rowling said.
Rowling pointed to some criminal cases, including rapist Isla Bryson and Andrew Miller, who kidnapped and assaulted the girl. She referred to them as men in her posts, as did other transgender rights activists and public figures.
Rowling announced that if her social media comments were deemed offensive under the new law,
“I expect to be arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment”.
The maximum penalty under the new law in Scotland is seven years in prison.
Police Scotland confirmed that no complaints had been made about Rowling’s publications.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended free speech, arguing that individuals should not face criminal charges for “simply stating the facts of biology”. In a statement to The Daily Telegraph, Sunak affirmed his party’s commitment to protecting freedom of expression.
The Scottish Government defended the hate crime law, stressing that it was aimed at
combating hatred and prejudice while preserving individuals’ freedom of expression.
First Minister Hamza Yousaf stressed that the legislation was aimed at preventing a “rising tide of hatred” in society.
Responding to concerns, Yousaf explained that the law only targets behavior that threatens, offends and is intended to incite hatred, and reassured that those who do not meet these criteria need not worry about being punished.
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