JK Rowling will not face any prosecution under Scotland’s new hate crime law after she challenged it by claiming on social media that many transgender women are men, police said on Tuesday.
The “Harry Potter” author and a prominent gender critical activist made the comments on Monday, the day the offense of “inciting hatred” relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity came into force.
She was backed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said people should not be criminalized for speaking “common knowledge” about biological sex. Police Scotland said it had received complaints about Rowling’s social media posts.
A spokesman said: “The comments were not criminal and no further action will be taken.”
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Youssef said the bill aimed to “protect people from a rising tide of hatred”.
“Unless your behavior is threatening or abusive and intended to incite hatred, you do not need to worry about new offences,” he said.
Women as a group are not protected, but the SNP-led Edinburgh government is considering separate reforms targeting misogyny.
Scotland has been at the forefront of extending rights to the trans community, but a previous attempt to make it easier to change legal gender was blocked by London over concerns it would affect existing equality legislation.
The new hate crime law has also been criticized for its impact on free speech and concerns it could be used to silence certain views, including those advocating for women-only spaces.
Rowling tested the law by listing 10 transgender women on X, including a convicted rapist, sex abuser and prominent activist, saying they were men.
“Freedom of speech and belief ends in Scotland if accurate description of biological sex is made a crime,” she said.
Prime Minister says law gives police ‘wrong priority’
“I am currently out of the country but if what I write here constitutes a crime under the terms of the new Bill, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”
Scottish ministers have previously said sex discrimination would not be a crime under the new law.
However, Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhan Brown told BBC radio on Monday that this would be a decision made by the police.
Sunak said that Britain has a glorious tradition of freedom of speech and that the new law gives the wrong priority to the police.
“We shouldn’t be criminalizing people who say common sense things about biological sex,” he told reporters. “Obviously that’s not right.”
India Willoughby, Britain’s first transgender newsreader and one of those listed by Rowling, questioned why anyone should “publicly denigrate and ridicule” trans people.
“What a sad, pathetic sight. The most famous author in the world stayed up all night writing a super-long troll post about me because she was consumed by her hatred of trans people. Completely unhinged,” Wei said. Lobi said.
The Police Federation of Scotland said officers were being asked to enforce the new laws at a time when resources were being cut.
“We anticipate a high number of complaints related to social media posts, which will obviously result in significant additional work,” the statement said.
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