by Mick the Ram

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has challenged the Scottish police and government to arrest her if they believe her comments relating to the new hate crime law constitutes a criminal offence.

The celebrated writer who lives in Edinburgh has posted a series of social media comments suggesting that “freedom of speech and belief” would be at an end if accurate descriptions of people’s biological sex was outlawed.

She has insisted on describing transgender women as men, including convicted prisoners, trans activists and other public figures, and blasting the threat that any “mis-gendering” could result in police action.

The new legislation came into force on 1st April which essentially makes it a crime of “stirring up hatred” relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.

It would therefore be regarded as an offence if someone was to communicate material, or behave in a manner, “that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive,” with the intention of stirring up hatred based on protected characteristics.

The maximum penalty is a prison sentence of seven years.

Longer sentences possible

Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf said the new law would deal with a “rising tide of hatred”. Although there is plenty of opposition and there have been heated debates relating to its content, the law was actually approved by 82 votes to 32, with 4 abstentions.

In England and Wales stirring up hatred over race, religion or sexual orientation by threatening behaviour remains illegal. In Scotland, the new act also consolidates existing laws on crimes which are “aggravated by prejudice” towards a protected characteristic and this can be taken into account by a judge who might issue a longer sentence or a higher fine.

Author hits out

Senior police officers say they expect a flood of complaints about online posts. Nevertheless, none of that had any effect on Ms Rowling who has long been a critic of some trans activism.

In a lengthy post she covered all aspects of what she considered wrong with the new law, accusing the Scottish lawmakers of placing a higher value on the: “feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness”.

She insisted that 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.”

Serious safety concerns

Continuing, she pointed to a number of Scottish criminals who changed their gender amid claims that people could be reported for calling them their original name/gender and highlighted that every man who declared himself a woman already had serious consequences for women’s and girls’ rights and safety in Scotland, with the strongest impact felt, she said: “as ever, by the most vulnerable, including female prisoners and rape survivors.”

Wide open to abuse

She added that the new legislation is 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.

She sarcastically urged her followers to respect “lovely Scottish lass” Isla Bryson, who is a convicted double rapist originally known as Adam Graham, who was situated in a female prison after self-identifying as a woman, provoking an outcry and leading to them being moved to the male estate.

Police Scotland said it had not received any complaints over any of Ms Rowland’s posts to date.