British author Joanne Rowling has condemned the new Scottish law which came into force on Monday. It is supposed to protect a number of social groups, including gender minorities, from hate speech.
According to Rowling, the law suppresses freedom of expression and does not extend the protections it provides to gender minorities to women.
A reaction to growing hatred
The law makes it a crime to incite hatred through threats or offensive behavior because of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity. The perpetrators of these crimes now face up to seven years in prison. Scottish Prime Minister Humza Yousaf has previously described the law as a response to a “rising tide of hate”.
Because “threatening or abusive behaviour” would be a criminal offence, Rowling called for police to arrest her if they believe she has committed a crime by criticizing transgender activism, reports SkyNew.
The new norm has raised concerns that the definition of such crimes is too vague and could threaten freedom of expression. According to its critics, the law also does not protect women from expressions of hatred. The Scottish government wants to include them in the upcoming special law against misogyny.
“Scottish lawmakers seem to place more emphasis on the feelings of men who perform their idea of femininity, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of real women and girls,” wrote the author of the Harry Potter story.
According to her, “freedom of speech and belief” is over if the exact description of biological sex is outlawed.
Musk agrees with Rowling
“I am currently abroad, but if what I have written here can be considered an offense under the new law, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment,” Rowling wrote.
Rowling has repeatedly argued in the past that transgender women are not women. Last week, she promised to continue to “call a man a man” and not to delete her older social media posts where she does so.
Prominent critics of the Scottish law, according to the Independent website, include, in addition to Rowling, the American billionaire and owner of the social network X, Elon Musk. About 200 people demonstrated against the norm outside the Scottish Parliament today.
