Author J.K. Rowling has sparked speculation she could now be arrested, after a new hate-crime law was introduced in Scotland.
English-born Rowling moved to Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, in the 1990s before she published any of the Harry Potter books that would go on to make her a household name and one of the richest women in the U.K.
But in more recent years she has made headlines for sharing her much-debated views on transgender people, which some LGBTQ+ activists have deemed as “transphobic,” a label she has always denied.
With Rowling having drawn attention for deliberately misgendering transgender people, she could now land herself in hot water under Scotland’s new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, according to a minister of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP).
Siobhian Brown, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, told The Daily Telegraph that, for example, calling a transgender woman “he”, instead of by the pronouns which align with their gender identity, could be considered a criminal offense.
“It could be reported and it could be investigated. Whether or not the police would think it was criminal is up to Police Scotland for that,” she said.
Brown added that police in Scotland had received a “lot of training in the last year,” around the new law which came into effect on Monday and that she felt confident they would execute the law properly.
“There’s a very high threshold, which is in the act, which would be up to Police Scotland, and what would have to be said online or in person would be threatening and abusive,” she said.
But Brown further explained that while the SNP supported “everybody’s freedom for expression,” it was not acceptable that people “in our society should live in fear or be made to feel like they don’t belong,” she said on BBC Radio 4 show Today. She also added that Rowling was “not entitled to make people feel uncomfortable and to misgender someone” but it would ultimately be up to the police what would happen under individual circumstances.
Newsweek contacted a representative of Rowling via email for comment.
The amended hate law expands the existing law which was brought into effect decades ago to prevent racist abuse and makes the “stirring up of hatred” a criminal offence.
Rowling Responds to New Law
Response to the bill has been mixed, with Rowling vowing to go on “calling a man a man” after the “ludicrous law” comes into effect, per The Telegraph.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Rowling doubled down on her position in a series of posts on Monday.
“In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls,” she wrote.
“The new legislation is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the grotesque unfairness of allowing males to compete in female sports, the injustice of women’s jobs, [honors] and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex.”
Rowling added: “It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women’s and girls’ rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man.
“Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.”
She then shared a number of posts about transgender women—some of which related to criminal cases—and said: “Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren’t women at all, but men, every last one of them.”
She ended the post: “I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”
While Rowling challenged a pending arrest, it currently appears unlikely that the writer will be apprehended by authorities on her return to Scotland.
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf told U.K. TV network Sky News on Monday: “Unless your behavior is threatening, or abusive, and intends to stir up hatred, then you have nothing to worry about.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak backed Rowling in her criticism of the new law.
“People should not be criminalized for stating simple facts on biology,” Sunak said in a statement shared with The Telegraph. “We believe in free speech in this country, and Conservatives will always protect it.”
Views on Transgender Issues
Rowling stirred controversy in 2019 when she publicly supported Maya Forstater, a U.K. tax specialist who was fired over tweets that were deemed to be anti-trans.
In an essay published on her personal website in June 2020, Rowling shared some of her views on transgender issues.
She wrote: “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman—and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones—then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth.”
In June 2020, Rowling reacted to an article that referred to “people who menstruate,” tweeting: “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
While some trans activists branded Rowling a “TERF”—an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist—she stood her ground on the issue.
Rowling wrote on X at the time: “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
“I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them,” she went on. “I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.”
Several actors associated with the Harry Potter franchise have publicly disagreed with her, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
In July 2021, Rowling stated on Twitter that she had received a “pipebomb” threat amid an onslaught of attacks over her previous statements about trans women.
She has continued to speak out about the way that the internet has “canceled” her, posting in support of singer Macy Gray, who in July 2022 made several controversial comments on the definition of a woman.
Gray faced backlash on Twitter, prompting Rowling to write in response: “Endless death and rape threats, threats of loss of livelihood, employers targeted, physical harassment, family address posted online with picture of bomb-making manual aren’t ‘mean comments.’ If you don’t yet understand what happens to women who stand up on this issue, back off.”
