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JK Rowling has said that she would “happily” spend two years in prison for misgendering a transgender person if a government passed a law stating that it is a hate crime to label people by the wrong pronouns
Taking to X formerly known as Twitter, the Harry Potter author, known for her outspoken and repeated criticisms of trans rights, said that she would happily spend time in jail if “the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality.”
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.
While Rowling claimed she would “happily” spend time in prison for the hypothetical crime, she also suggested she would fight the charge in court, writing: “Bring on the court case, I say. It’ll be more fun than I’ve ever had on a red carpet.”
The author then riffed on the idea of imprisonment in an interaction with a follower, joking about her preferred prison work assignments.
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.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 17, 2023
“Hoping for the library, obviously, but I think I could do ok in the kitchens,” she wrote. “Laundry might be a problem. I have a tendency to shrink stuff/turn it pink accidentally. Guessing that won’t be a major issue if it’s mostly scrubs and sheets, though.”
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Meanwhile, a Labour spokesman said: “This isn’t our policy. Labour’s policy has nothing to do with pronouns, misgendering or changing what hate crime is.”
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