J.K. Rowling challenged Scotland’s new hate speech law, which makes it a criminal offense to stir up hatred against protected groups.
On April Fool’s Day, Rowling sarcastically listed male criminals who identified as transgender before crimes, then said they were actually men.
“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,” Rowling said.
I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women – irrespective of profile or financial means – will be treated equally under the law.https://t.co/CsgehF2a5d
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 2, 2024
She dared police to arrest her for offending the new law.
Police Scotland later said Rowling’s comments did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution.
Rowling welcomed this, pledging to repeat any woman’s words that police try to charge for calling a man a man.
“I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women – irrespective of profile or financial means – will be treated equally under the law.”
The law has sparked controversy in Scotland and the UK.
Former deputy leader of the Scottish National Party launched a campaign to repeal the “deep wound” of a law that will turn police from a service to an enforcement force against free speech.
Even UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak weighed in, saying it is wrong to criminalize stating biological facts about sex and that Britain has a proud free speech tradition.
“Today on their own admission, Police Scotland will translate itself from a service into a force for one particular purpose — the pursuit of people who speak their minds,” Scottish National Party former deputy leader Jim Sillars said. The law “inflicts a deep wound on the face of Scottish society.”
“We should not be criminalizing people saying common sense things about biological sex, clearly that isn’t right,” UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said. “We have a proud tradition of free speech.”
