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J.Okay. Rowling has dared police to arrest her as she expressed her opposition to new hate crime laws that has simply come into drive in Scotland.
The brand new legal guidelines got here into drive as we speak (April 1), making it a criminal offense to “fire up hatred” on the idea of age, incapacity, faith, sexual orientation, transgender identification or being intersex. An individual commits an offence if they convey materials, or behave in a way, “{that a} cheap individual would contemplate to be threatening or abusive”, with the intention of inciting hatred based mostly on considered one of these traits. Separate legal guidelines shall be introduced in to sort out misogyny as a particular offence.
Rowling decried the brand new laws in a prolonged thread on X/Twitter through which she singled out and attacked quite a few trans ladies over them them legally having a protected attribute.
“I’m presently overseas, but when what I’ve written right here qualifies as an offence underneath the phrases of the brand new act, I look ahead to being arrested once I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment,” she wrote.
She added that “freedom of speech and perception are at an finish in Scotland” if what she termed “the correct description of organic intercourse” is “deemed prison.”
Nevertheless, Scotland’s First Minster Humza Yousef has addressed the “disinformation” being unfold concerning the invoice, significantly by gender-critical teams, claiming there’s a “triple lock” of safety for speech – an express clause on free speech, a defence for any accused individual’s actions being “cheap” and the act being suitable with the European Conference on Human Rights.
Rowling was reported to the police final month over accusations of transphobic abuse, after she mentioned the broadcaster India Willoughby – who was talked about within the thread posted as we speak – “didn’t change into a girl” and is “cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a girl is”.
Willoughby mentioned Rowling’s phrases have been “in breach of each the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act” and later mentioned on X/Twitter that it was recorded as a non-crime hate incident. In response, Rowling mentioned that the “police are going to be very busy”.
The creator has confronted a backlash for quite a lot of remarks which have been perceived as transphobic, stemming again to 2020. Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have all spoken out in opposition to her views and defended transgender men and women.
Quite a few actors have additionally come to Rowling’s defence, together with Evanna Lynch, Helena Bonham Carter and Jim Broadbent.
In October, Rowling mentioned she would “fortunately” go to jail slightly than consult with transgender ladies as “ladies”.
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