JK Rowling in ‘arrest me’ challenge over Scottish hate crime law
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.
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Ms Rowling, who has long been a critic of some trans activism, posted on X on the day the new legislation came into force.
Yes, again, I think you, and everyone else, should care about genocides. Because it means fewer genocides. If you can't dedicate any attention to a genocide, maybe you should broaden your focus. Because otherwise, it still sounds like you're okay with some genocide but not other genocide.
And I, again, disagree. First, I disagree with the premise: so far - based on the sources you used and a cursory review of what I found - I don't find the arguments that define the trans genocide compelling. Second, as a consequence, I see you are back to guilt-tripping as a strategy. No, if I don't care about something doesn't mean I am OK with whatever happens. There are countless of examples probably of things going on in the world I don't have energy or time or will to care about that I am not OK with. So, unless you have some fresh perspective that goes beyond relying on the word "genocide", to argue the relative importance of this matter over others, we are at a deadlock.
Based on the arguments made so far, I stand by my initial position that the trans rights cause - despite I sympathize with it - is not high enough in the priority list to deserve my attention. Even less are the tweets of a celebrity about it.
I suppose it's easy to not care about a genocide if you deny the genocide is happening.
Accusing me of guilt-tripping you won't absolve you of genocide denial, sorry.