JK ROWLING says she would ‘happily do two years in jail’ if a future Labour Government makes it a hate crime to call someone by wrong pronouns

 

Thursday, October 19, 2023 – JK Rowling has said she would happily go to jail rather than address someone with pronouns different from what they were born as.

The Harry Potter author said if a future Labour government makes it a hate crime to deliberately call someone by the wrong pronouns, she would rather do time for misgendering them than submit to “compelled speech”.

She spoke out after The Mail on Sunday revealed that Labour plans to introduce stricter sentences for abuse targeted at transgender people.

Deliberately misgendering someone “is already a hate crime” if it is motivated by hostility to the victim’s transgender identity, the Government said last year, but Labour’s policy would mean tougher penalties for perpetrators.

If it becomes an “aggravated offence” like race hate attacks, harassment based on someone’s gender identity could result in prison sentences of up to two years.

Due to the police’s heavy handed intervention in previous online spats, critics fear the move could see gender-critical campaigners prosecuted for refusing to use a transgender person’s preferred pronouns and referring to them by their birth sex.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Rowling posted “No” above an image text that reads ”trans women are women”

Then a user on X, formerly Twitter, told her that voting Labour would mean two years in jail and she replied: “I’ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex.

“Bring on the court case, I say. It’ll be more fun than I’ve ever had on a red carpet.”