After challenging British authorities to use the SNP’s fresh hate crime legislation to arrest her for her opinions on transgender issues, Ravishi Sunak has backed JK Rowling.
After referring to a number of transgender women as men the day the new law became law, the Harry Potter writer had stated that she was looking forward to being arrested.
An SNP minister had earlier admitted that Rowling could be investigated under the Hate Crime and Public Order ( Scotland ) Act – which creates a new offence of” stirring up of hatred” for “misgendering” trans people.
Rowling backed the Prime Minister, who argued that the Conservatives would often uphold free speech.
He argued that stating straightforward facts about biology should n’t lead to criminalization. We support free conversation in this country, and Republicans will always defend it.
On Monday, Rowling mocked the says that 10 prominent trans people were women by posting photos of them.
They included the “double suspect” Isla Bryson, whom she sarcastically referred to as a “lovely British lass”, and the TV character India Willoughby.
At the end of the listing, Rowling tweeted:” April Fools! Simply kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above comments are n’t women at all, but people, every last one of them”.
She stated that “freedom of speech and perception are at an end in Scotland if the exact description of natural intercourse is deemed unlawful.
I’m now out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an crime under the new work, I look forward to being detained when I return to the place of the Scottish Enlightenment’s origin. ” She used the tag #arrestme.
After posting the list of transgender women, Rowling claimed that the MSPs who supported the new love crime laws “placed more benefit on the feelings of men acting in misogynistically or strategically” than on the rights and liberties of real women and girls”
She said,” The new legislation is wide open to abuse by protesters who wish to silence those of us who speak out against the dangers of eliminating children’s and ladies ‘ single-sex areas, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the injustice of women’s jobs, honors and opportunities being taken by trans-identifié men, and the reality and transparency of biological sexual.”
Humza Yousaf, the First Minister, oversaw the passage of the hate crime legislation at Holyrood in 2021, when he was justice secretary in Nicola Sturgeon’s government.
Nearly all Labour and SNP MSPs voted in favor of the Act. However, it did not come into force until Monday, as Police Scotland said it needed time for training. A third of officers have n’t yet completed the two-hour training session.
Expanding on a similar offence based on racist abuse that has been on the statute book for decades, the Act creates a criminal offence of” stoking up hatred”.
The legislation extends this to other grounds on the basis of age, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. Someone found guilty of inciting hatred could face a fine and a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
Despite cross-party MSPs raising questions about why women were excluded, an amendment to add sex to the list of protected characteristics was rejected.
Additionally, concerns have been raised that the legislation’s definition of a hate crime may be too ambiguous, which could result in” shuddering” effects on freedom of speech and a slew of vexatious complaints being made to police. In particular, Rowling’s allies have suggested that trans activists have her” in their sights”.
The SNP Government and the police, according to Rowling, have been making pressure on Scottish women to “reject the evidence of their eyes and ears, reject biological facts, and embrace a neo-religious concept of gender that is unprovable and untestable.”
The policy of self- identification had” serious consequences” for women’s rights and safe spaces, she said, with the” strongest impact “being felt by female prisoners and rape survivors.
It is impossible to accurately describe or address the reality of the abuse of women and girls against women and girls, or stop the current assault on women’s and girls ‘ rights, she said.
Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, added:” It is a truly awful piece of legislation. It will put unnecessary pressure on our already stretched police force, and it will have a chilling impact on freedom of speech.
Scotland is known for its irreverent humor and passion for heated debate. I worry that this authoritarian Nationalist administration will destroy these outstanding traits of ours.
Siobhian Brown, the SNP’s community safety minister, first stated that misgendering would” not at all” fall foul of the law before admitting that it would be up to the police to decide.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:” It could be reported and it could be investigated. Police Scotland is responsible for determining whether or not the police would believe it to be criminal.
However, she said there was a “very high threshold” of criminality in the legislation of being” threatening and abusive”, and people would not be prosecuted for expressing a” challenging or offensive” opinion.
Justin Webb, who conducted the interview with Ms. Brown, was exposed in February as breaking impartiality laws by airing transgender women as “males.”
The BBC upheld a complaint against the Today presenter after he said” trans women, in other words, males” on the Radio 4 programme last August.
A listener criticized the comment as Mr. Webb venting his opinion of a contentious subject, which constituted a breach of the BBC’s standards for impartiality.
Protesters gathered outside the Scottish Parliament on Monday to demand that the Act be passed, but Mr. Yousaf claimed it was needed because” there is a rising tide of hatred against the people because of their protected characteristics.”
You have nothing to worry about with regard to the new offence that has been created, he told Sky News, despite the fact that it is not threatening or abusive and does not intend to stir up hatred.
He questioned Rowling’s assertions, saying that the police would look into cases where a crime had been committed and that the Crown Office would decide “if there is sufficient evidence to charge.”
Jim Sillars, the SNP’s former deputy leader, has launched a campaign to “resist the Hate Crime Act and campaign for its repeal”. He said:” Humza Yousaf’s Hate Crime Act inflicts a deep wound on the face of Scottish society”.
Police Scotland did not disclose how many criminal reports it received the day the act became effective.
