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.

  • Syndic@feddit.de
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    8 months ago

    How’s telling her that she has shitty opinion a witch hunt, but her using her fame and wealth to spread her shitty opinion way beyond what a normal random person could ever do, isn’t?

    • cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      As mentioned, I do not have all the details. I have heard some of her ideas, but I don’t follow her that closely. Many famous people have terrible ideas and many fans to spread their ideas to. To me it mostly looks like people being hurt even more by JK, because they like the universe that she has created but her ideology does not fit their own.

      It’s fair to feel like this, but she is just one person sharing her ideas. Nobody goes like: “JK is against trans people, so I am too”. At least they shouldn’t and at least we should expect most people don’t. Just let her have her opinions and leave it at that

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        “I don’t know the details, but this person is being falsely accused” is not a very rational position, so I hope you didn’t think it was.

      • nac82@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        You say ypu don’t have all the details to rid yourself of being responsible for the hate you are defending, because you’re an idiot.

      • Syndic@feddit.de
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        8 months ago

        As mentioned, I do not have all the details. I have heard some of her ideas, but I don’t follow her that closely.

        Well then maybe, you should look a bit deeper in the topic before you propose that she’s the victim of a witch hunt? I mean it’s really not that hard, all the controversial shit is right there on her own twitter and can easily be found.

        It’s fair to feel like this, but she is just one person sharing her ideas. Nobody goes like: “JK is against trans people, so I am too”. At least they shouldn’t and at least we should expect most people don’t. Just let her have her opinions and leave it at that

        What? Of course people are constantly influenced by other people’s opinions. That’s how opinions form in the first place. And a world famous author with tons of followers on top of a shit ton of money to throw at groups actively advocating for legal restrictions on transsexual people obviously has a lot more power to influence people’s opinions and shitty laws than you or me in that regard. So no, she’s not just a person sharing her ideas, she’s an incredible influencual one sharing her hate in a time when the transsexual community is under active attack in several modern countries not only resulting in hurt feelings but actual people ending up dead!