A transgender celebrity claims that she reported international bestselling author J.K. Rowling to British police for misgendering on social media.
India Willoughby, England’s first transgender news anchor, claimed to have contacted Northumbria Police after Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, called her a man in posts on X.
In response, Willoughby denounced Rowling as a criminal, labeling what she did a “cut-and-dry offence” as far as she was concerned. (RELATED: Police Warn Social Media User After Posting About ‘Adult Baby’ Speaking To Children)
Rowling maintains that no law can force her to embrace Willoughby’s preferred gender expression.
The Telegraph reports:
The claims come after Rowling, who has regularly spoken out on the issue of gender identity, refused to refer to Willoughby as a “woman” in an online debate about all-female locker rooms.
Instead, she said Willoughby was “just a man revelling in his misogynistic performance of what he thinks ‘woman’ means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist”.
In an interview with Byline TV, an independent and subscriber-funded news page, Willoughby claimed Rowling’s posts had breached the law.
Willoughby said: “JK Rowling has definitely committed a crime. I’m legally a woman, she knows I’m a woman, and she calls me a man.
“It’s a protected characteristic and that is a breach of both the Equalities Act and the Gender Recognition Act. She’s tweeted that out to 14 million followers,” Willoughby persisted. (RELATED: Woke School District Sued Over Scheme That Reports Students For Off-Campus Speech)
“If you check out the accounts that have been responding to me on the back of that, her trigger, it’s absolutely disgusting,” she added.
In the U.K. it is considered a crime to discriminate against someone based on protected characteristics. However, referring to a person who identifies as transgender by their biological sex is not considered a crime. This type of speech is recognized as an expression of belief and is protected under the Equality Act of 2010.
Representatives for the Northumbria Police have not responded to request for comment.
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