Earlier this week, Harry Potter author JK Rowling criticized Scotland's Hate Crime and Public Order Act, which came into effect on Monday (Apr. 1).
The law in the UK's northernmost constituent country aimed to tackle the harm caused by hatred and prejudice, extending protections from abusive behavior to people on grounds including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and transgender identity.
With the law in place, a Scottish minister named Siobhian Brown said that people "could be investigated" for misgendering someone online.
It could be revealed that Rowling was recently alleged to have misgendered transgender English woman India Willoughby, calling the broadcaster a "man" on social media.
In response, Rowling put out a series of comments on X, formerly Twitter, lashing out against transgender women, including double rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed for eight years last year for raping two women.
"I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an offense under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment," she said.
"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."
Rowling added that the new legislation would also be "wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those... 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."
Tory, Labour Support for Rowling
In a supportive response to Rowling, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that people should not be criminalized "for stating simple facts on biology."
"We believe in free speech in this country, and Conservatives will always protect it," he added.
Labour's shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, concurred with the Conservatives, saying Rowling should not be arrested and was entitled to her view.
He added that it was a pretty big omission not to include misogyny in the legislation and that Labour was "not planning to legislate for new crimes in this area" if it came to power.
Meanwhile, a group of protesters staged a demonstration outside the Scottish parliament house at Holyrood against the new laws.
One of the organizers, Stef Shaw, told Sky News that there was "great cause for concern" over the new legislation. He added that he saw no positives to the act and it would only cause major problems.
However, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf maintained that he was "very proud" of the new laws, saying that they would help protect against a "rising tide" of hatred.
He further insisted that he was "very confident in Police Scotland's ability in order to implement this legislation in the way it should."
