Rishi Sunak Backs JK Rowling In Row Over Scotland’s New Hate Crime Law

David GilmourApr 2nd, 2024, 6:24 am

Author JK Rowling is best known for her fiction series Harry Potter. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak openly supported author JK Rowling in a row surrounding Scotland’s newly enacted hate crime laws.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which officially came into force this Monday, introduces the offence of “stirring up hatred” on grounds of various protected characteristics punishable by up to seven years in prison. The protected characteristics include age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, or being intersex.

The Harry Potter series author, who lives in Edinburgh, was openly critical of the new law, arguing it would have implications on freedom of speech and did not include the protection of women. As a critic of transgender activism, Rowling said that “freedom of speech and belief” is at stake if the description of biological sex is considered outlawed.

🎉🌼🌸April Fools! 🌸🌼🎉

Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren't women at all, but men, every last one of them.

In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their…

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Sunak spoke in Rowling’s defence and said: “People should not be criminalised for stating simple facts on biology. We believe in free speech in this country, and Conservatives will always protect it.”

While the act aims to strengthen protections against hate crimes, critics like Rowling argue it might not adequately shield women from hatred. In its defence, the Scottish government says it hopes to deal with that specifically in a forthcoming misogyny law.