JK Rowling has said she is prepared to go to prison if a future Labour Government decides to introduce new hate speech laws for transgender Britons.
The controversial author, 58, has courted public backlash once again following a bizarre rant against proposed plans to have harassment based on gender identity made an “aggravated offence”.
The Government last year said that deliberate misgendering motivated by hostility to someone’s identity is “already a hate crime”, but Labour plans would have the consequences dialled up a notch.
Ms Rowling has spoken out against the potential changes in a post on social media in which she considered how she might fit into prison life.
The Harry Potter author said she would “happily do two years” behind bars.
Reform proposals would see harassment based on gender identity become an offence akin to race attacks, with punishments including prison sentences.
People guilty of this crime could face two-year-long prison sentences, causing discomfort among people who proscribe to gender-critical ideology.
Proponents of this ideology refuse to identify transgender and non-binary people by their preferred pronouns, claiming that doing so erodes “women’s sex-based rights”.
The author said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that participating in a court battle over crimes included in the proposed law would be “more fun than I’ve ever had on a red carpet”.
She wrote: “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.”
While the proposed law changes have caused consternation among some groups, transgender activists have long called for updates to existing legislation, with anti-trans hate crimes surging to an all-time high.
The number of police recorded transgender hate crimes in England hit 4,732 during 2022/2023, combined data from the UK’s major police services has found.
The latest reported figures are an increase of 377 compared to 2021/2022, according to Statista, and an increase of 1,963 compared to 2020/2021.
People reported 10 times more Transphobic hate crimes this year compared to 2011 and 2012 when police received just 313, and charities warn that many transgender Britons are still too scared to report incidents to the authorities.
