Will JK Rowling Be Arrested? What We Know
J.K. Rowling has sparked speculation she could now be arrested, after a new hate-crime law was introduced in Scotland.English-born Rowling moved to Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, in the 1990s before she published any of the Harry Potter books that would go on to make her a household name and one of the richest women in the U.K.But in more recent years she has made headlines for sharing her much-debated views on transgender people, which some LGBTQ+ activists have deemed as "transphobic," a label she has always denied.With Rowling having drawn attention for deliberately misgendering transgender people, she could now land herself in hot water under Scotland's new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, according to a minister of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP).Siobhian Brown, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, told The Daily Telegraph that, for example, calling a transgender woman "he", instead of by the pronouns which align with their gender identity, could be considered a criminal offense."It could be reported and it could be investigated.
Whether or not the police would think it was criminal is up to Police Scotland for that," she said.Brown added that police in Scotland had received a "lot of training in the last year," around the new law which came into effect on Monday and that she felt confident they would execute the law properly."There's a very high threshold, which is in the act, which would be up to Police Scotland, and what would have to be said online or in person would be threatening and abusive," she said.But Brown further explained that while the SNP supported "everybody's freedom for expression," it was not acceptable that people "in our society should live in fear or be made to feel like they don't belong," she said on BBC Radio 4 show Today.
She also added that Rowling was "not entitled to make people feel uncomfortable and to misgender someone" but it would ultimately be up to the police what would happen under individual.
