JK Rowling has challenged Scotland’s new hate crime law in a series of social media posts - inviting police to arrest her if they believe she has committed an offence.

The Harry Potter author, who lives in Edinburgh, described several transgender women as men, including convicted prisoners, trans activists and other public figures.

She said “freedom of speech and belief” was at an end if accurate description of biological sex was outlawed.

Earlier, Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf said the new law would deal with a “rising tide of hatred”.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 creates a new crime of “stirring up hatred” relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.

Ms Rowling, who has long been a critic of some trans activism, posted on X on the day the new legislation came into force.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    9 months ago

    Why are you assuming the person you were criticizing for letting her get away with this has ever bought a single one of her books or any other Harry Potter products? I haven’t. It doesn’t interest me. Am I letting her get away with it? Is the only way to not let her get away with it to pirate her books that I wasn’t planning to read in the first place?

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        On the one hand, I’m really glad piracy is not theft.

        On the other hand, I would totally do that if it worked.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        Why should I bully anyone? I was severely bullied as a child. No one deserves to be bullied, even if they’re a bigot. Two wrongs do not make a right.

        Only someone who hasn’t experienced much bullying would think that bullying people was the answer to anything.

        Bullying is a form of torture. All torture has ever done is breed resentment.