UK government supports JK Rowling in hate crime law dispute

The British government has said that JK Rowling should not be jailed for her views on trans people.

The Harry Potter author challenged a new Scottish hate crime law with social media posts claiming that several trans women were men.

Rowling made the comments on Monday (1st), the day the crime of “inciting hatred” related to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity came into force.

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said the bill was about “protecting people from a rising tide of hate”.

“Unless your behavior is threatening or abusive and intended to incite hatred, then there is nothing to worry about in terms of the new offenses being created,” he said.

Women are not protected as a group in this law, but the Scottish National Party-led government in Edinburgh is considering separate reforms to combat misogyny.

Scotland has been at the forefront of extending rights to the transgender community, but a previous attempt to make it easier to change legal gender was blocked by London due to concerns it could clash with existing equality legislation.

The new hate crimes law has also faced criticism over its impact on freedom of expression and concerns that it could be used to silence some views, including those advocating women-only spaces.

Rowling tested the law by listing 10 trans women – including a convicted rapist, sexual abusers and famous activists – on X (formerly Twitter) and saying they were men.

“Freedom of speech and belief will come to an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is considered criminal,” she said.

Law gives police “wrong priorities”, says British Prime Minister

“I am currently out of the country, but if what I have written here qualifies as an offense under the new law, I expect to be arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”

Scottish ministers have previously said misgendering would not be a crime under the new law.

However, Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhan Brown told BBC radio on Monday that it was up to the police to decide.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK has a proud tradition of free speech and that the new law gave the police the wrong priorities.

“We shouldn’t criminalize people who say commonsense things about biological sex,” he told reporters. “Clearly this is not right.”

India Willoughby, Britain's first transgender broadcaster and one of those listed by Rowling, questioned why anyone should “publicly denigrate and mock” trans people.

“What a sad and pathetic sight. The world's best-known author sat up all night to write a mega-long post about me because she is consumed with hatred of trans people. Completely distraught,” Willoughby said.

The Scottish Police Federation said officers were being asked to enforce new laws as resources were being cut.

“We are anticipating a large number of complaints regarding social media posts and this will clearly create a lot of extra work,” he said.