J.K. Rowling stoops even lower, mocks hate-crime law & dares police to arrest her

J.K. Rowling is really mad that Scotland's new hate-crime law encompasses transgender people.

The country recently passed the Scottish Hate Crime Act, which criminalizes "stirring up hatred" related to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and transgender identity. Outraged by the idea that it's harmful to incite bigotry against a vulnerable group of people, the Harry Potter author lashed out.

Rowling took to X, formerly Twitter, to pen a lengthy thread Monday slamming the legislation, claiming — without evidence — that transgender inclusion has "serious consequences for women's and girls’ rights and safety." She then named 10 trans women, saying that they "aren't women at all, but men, every last one of them," and dared Scottish law enforcement to arrest her.

"I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an (offense) under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment," Rowling concluded.

One of the women Rowling listed was India Willoughby, Britain's first transgender broadcaster, who the author also publicly attacked just last month. Rowling claimed that the journalist "didn't become a woman" but is rather "cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy about what a woman is."

Willoughby revealed shortly after in an interview with Byline TV that she "reported J.K. Rowling to the police for what she said." She explained that to "deliberately misgender me knowing who I am is grossly offensive. It is a hate crime."

It is unclear if misgendering is encompassed under the new hate-crime law. While officials have said that misgendering alone will not be punished, it is ultimately up to local law enforcement to decide to move forward with a case. Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf explained that the law was simply about "protecting people from a rising tide of hatred" and that "unless your behavior is threatening or abusive and intends to stir up hatred, then you have nothing to worry about."

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has since weighed in on the legislation, claiming that "we should not be criminalizing people saying common sense things about biological sex." However, both he and Rowling are incorrect in their "common sense" assertions — all major medical organizations recognize and affirm the difference between gender identity and biological sex.

Rowling's attacks on transgender people are nothing new, though the writer has recently escalated her rhetoric against the community. Shortly after targeting Willoughby, Rowling engaged in Holocaust denial by claiming it is a "fever dream" to say that transgender people were persecuted by the Nazis — a well-documented historic fact that is recognized under German law.

In response to Rowling's most recent tirade, Willoughby simply pointed out the author's increasingly bizarre behavior. She referred to the situation as "pathetic," noting that Rowling's "hatred" has impacted her judgement and reputation.

"What a sad pathetic sight," she wrote. "The best-known author in the world sitting up all night to write a mega-long troll post about me, because she's consumed by a hatred of trans people. Completely deranged."