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This past Monday, the Hate Crime and Public Order Act came into force in Scotland, which states that it is a crime to incite hatred through threatening or abusive behavior based on characteristics such as age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and transgender identity.

Racial hatred is not included because it was already reflected in a previous law. Nor is hatred towards women because a subsequent law on misogyny is being worked on. The maximum penalty for this crime is seven years in prison and it is generating a lot of controversy in the UK. Critics argue that this law infringes on freedom of expression and will intimidate many from sharing their opinions on certain issues.

Although the most polemic point has been the one referring to transgender identity, which has reignited an old debate that has previously put ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling in the spotlight – although the actors from the film series based on her books already rebelled against her in the past. She has been very active on social media in recent hours, even inviting Scottish authorities to arrest her for expressing her opinions.

Rowling’s Discourse

«Scotland’s Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category» she claimed.

Additionally, she posted a list of transgender women, many of whom committed crimes and benefited from being considered women when, according to her, they are actually men: «Obviously, the people mentioned in the previous tweets are not women at all, but men, every last one of them.»

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🎉🌼🌸April Fools! 🌸🌼🎉

Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren’t women at all, but men, every last one of them.

In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their…

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

«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. 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, honours and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex», she wrote.

«For several years now, Scottish women have been pressured by their government and members of the police force to deny the evidence of their eyes and ears, repudiate biological facts and embrace a neo-religious concept of gender that is unprovable and untestable. The re-definition of ‘woman’ to include every man who declares himself one has already had serious consequences for women’s and girls’ rights and safety in Scotland, with the strongest impact felt, as ever, by the most vulnerable, including female prisoners and rape survivors.,» she continued in defense of her speech.

«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 continued to express.

«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,» she challenged the authorities.

These are just some of the opinions she has expressed on social media where she seems to have vented her feelings freely. And of course, the controversy is served once again.

Will J.K. Rowling Be Arrested?

Even though on Tuesday afternoon Police Scotland confirmed they had received several complaints about Rowling’s social media posts, they assure that she won’t be arrested. At least for now. «The comments are not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken», the Scottish police revealed.