A transgender broadcaster has filed a hate crime complaint against JK Rowling after the author referred to him as “he” on social media. But police say the broadcaster’s allegations of gender discrimination “do not rise to the level of a criminal offence”.
Last Monday, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling published a post on X criticising the fact that transgender people who are biologically male are allowed into women’s changing rooms – something she says can be risky for girls and women.
The thread begins with a discussion about transgender presenter and reality star India Willoughby, with a follower posting a video of the presenter asking if this “lady” should really be using men’s changing rooms. In response, the Harry Potter author says there is no “lady” in the video, just “a man enjoying his misogynistic idea of what he thinks “woman” means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist”.
“India has not become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is”, Rowling continued.
Willoughby countered that the author was displaying “grotesque transphobia” and claimed that the debate over whether Rowling was transphobic was now over.
“I am as much a woman as J.K. Rowling. This is recognised in law and by everyone I interact with on a daily basis”, the person wrote on X.
Willoughby, 58, has also decided to file a police report against Rowling for gender discrimination against the presenter, who prefers to be referred to as it/them.
– J.K. Rowling has definitely committed a crime. I am legally a woman. She knows I’m a woman and she called me a man, the reality star said in an interview with Byline TV.
No crime
Rowling denies the allegations, pointing out that it is not a crime to hold gender-critical views. Rowling also believes Willoughby’s “obsessive focus” on her in recent years “may reach the legal threshold of harassment”, according to her lawyers. She has previously been advised to take legal action against the broadcaster and that she had a “clear winning case against India Willoughby for defamation”, but has chosen not to do so.
This is not the first time Rowling and Willoughby have fallen out. Last year, for example, the transsexual presenter claimed to be “more of a woman than JK Rowling will ever be”.
But Northumbria Police, who handled the case against Rowling, say the allegations “do not meet the threshold for a criminal offence”.
“Whilst we understand the upset this may have caused, the posts have been reviewed and do not meet the threshold for a criminal offence”, the police said, according to The Independent.
