J.K. Rowling won a significant victory over Scotland’s new speech restrictions after daring the police to arrest her over comments criticising transgender ideology, as Police Scotland said they would not take criminal actions against the Harry Potter author after activists reported her statements to law enforcement.
Successfully calling the bluff of the leftist government of First Minister Humza Yousaf, J.K. Rowling struck a stinging blow against the oppressive Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, after she goaded the police to arrest her as the bill came into law on Monday for insisting that transgender “women” are in reality still men.
For this statement, Rowling was already reported to Police Scotland for potentially breaching the new speech codes, which carry a prison sentence of up to seven years for “stirring up hatred” against protected groups, including the disabled, ethnic minorities, and the so-called LGBT community.
However, after receiving the reports, Police Scotland said per the Scottish Daily Express that officers will not take action against Rowling as the comments were “not assessed to be criminal.”
Responding, Rowling, wrote on X: “I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women – irrespective of profile or financial means – will be treated equally under the law.”
The feminist author and resident of Scotland went on to vow that she would stand by any other woman who runs afoul of the new speech codes, saying: “If they go after any woman for simply calling a man a man, I’ll repeat that woman’s words and they can charge us both at once.”
Previously, Scottish government minister Siobhian Brown suggested that “misgendering” transgender individuals online could lead to charges under the new law, however, said that it would be up to the discretion of the police.
Meanwhile, Police Scotland also announced that First Minister Humza Yousaf — the driving force behind the hate speech law — will also not face criminal charges after members of the public reported the leftist politician for a 2020 speech in parliament in which he complained that there were too many white people in the Scottish government following the killing of George Floyd in the United States.
The force said that it did not find anything within his comments to be “threatening, abusive or insulting” and claimed that there was no “malice or ill will displayed towards any person or group”.
A Police Scotland spokesman also previously noted that the hate crime legislation only covers comments made after midnight on April 1st of this year and, therefore, Mr Yousaf could not have been charged for his comments in 2020, regardless.
Despite criticism coming from all sides of the political divide, including from left-wing figures such as Rowling and liberals like comedian Joe Rogan, Yousaf has attempted to brand all opposition to the speech codes as “right-wing” attacks.
Yousaf also suggested on Tuesday that allegedly racist graffiti found near his home justified the imposition of the restrictions on speech in Scotland.
“I do my best to shield my children from the racism and Islamophobia I face on a regular basis. That becomes increasingly difficult when racist graffiti targeting me appears near our family home,” he wrote on social media.
“A reminder of why we must, collectively, take a zero-tolerance approach to hatred.”
