JK Rowling has challenged Scotland’s new hate crime law in a series of social media posts - inviting police to arrest her if they believe she has committed an offence.

The Harry Potter author, who lives in Edinburgh, described several transgender women as men, including convicted prisoners, trans activists and other public figures.

She said “freedom of speech and belief” was at an end if accurate description of biological sex was outlawed.

Earlier, Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf said the new law would deal with a “rising tide of hatred”.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 creates a new crime of “stirring up hatred” relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.

Ms Rowling, who has long been a critic of some trans activism, posted on X on the day the new legislation came into force.

  • BertramDitore@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    OR, and hear me out, you could just not be a total asshole? Maybe have a baseline of tolerance and respect for the people who made you a billionaire? No? Then fuck right off and accept the consequences of your hatred.

    • Dojan@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      It seems billionaires have really wacked out midlife crises. Instead of buying expensive cars and cheating on their partners, they come out as terfy nazis, build hate platforms, and crash companies. I mean to be fair, at this point the sample size is only two, JKKK Rowling and Musk, but it’s still surprising that it’d happen twice.

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
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        Bill Gates started a charity.

        Steve Jobs killed himself because he thought he knew better than his doctors. Well, that’s wacked out too, but at least it’s not being a Nazi…

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Bill gates didn’t start the charity as a midlife crisis.

          It’s a tax dodge and a lot of other ways of protecting his money while also doing a little reputation washing/ morality banking

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
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            2 years ago

            Wasn’t he 45 when he started the charity? That sounds like a perfect candidate to be a midlife crisis, haha

            • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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              Just because it was midlife doesn’t mean it’s a crisis.

              He started the charity as a shelter for his obscene wealth. That is all.

          • gmtom@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            It’s a tax dodge

            Have you ever worked with the Gates foundation? Because calling it a “tax dodge” like that is completely baseless, they’re a really reallyngood charity, like honestly one of the best in the world, and also that’s very ignorant of how taxes work.

            • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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              2 years ago

              They do good work and help people? That’s great! They do the best work out of all charities worldwide? That’s even better!

              Still a tax dodge. You really want to help the world, donate. The money being out of their control is kind of the point…

              • gmtom@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                How is the money being out of their control the point?

                The point is to save lives and help people, which the Gates foundation does incredibly well.

                And it’s not a tax dodge, he’s literally just not selling his Microsoft shares for cash, getting taxed, and then giving the money to the foundation and instead just giving the foundation the shares directly.

            • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              and also that’s very ignorant of how taxes work.

              You could just google it and alleviate your own ignorance of all the scummy ways both the foundation and the trust are used to avoid taxes (and other expenses.) here’s a forbe’s article with the stuff they’re actually allowed to talk about. The “good work” you’re so keen to point out… is part of the grift.

              Specifically so schmucks like you pounce whenever some schmuck like me says “they’re not that nice.” That’s the part about “reputation washing”. he gives some money - literal pocket change for somebody that makes nearly 11 million per day.

              you don’t get that fucking rich by being “nice” or “decent” or even human, really. this is about Bezos, but it puts their wealth into perspective. Decent humans, with that kind of wealth could solve global housing. Or they could solve the food shortage. he hasn’t even come close to that. No. The foundation isn’t a force for good, even if it occasionally does good shit.

              for example, the Rich Douche exploited the pandemic to make money, by investing in vaccine companies. And refusing to release the IP on the Vaccine. Because that would hurt his the foundation’s profits.

              • gmtom@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                My dude, I have worked with the foundation to help create diagnostic tools for deseases that would otherwise gone unnoticed in developing countries.

                The work we have done has saved thousands and thousands of peoples lives. So you can take your.

                The “good work” you’re so keen to point out… is part of the grift.

                And shove it right up your arse. If saving peoples lives is a “grift” to you because bill Gates didn’t sell his shares in Microsost before he gave them to his trust, because obviously the shares will keep increasing in price, then honestly I don’t fucking care.

                And yes I know Bill Gates did shitty things and screwed a lot of people over in his early carrier to become so rich and I’m not excusing that. But the Gates foundation isn’t part of that and has done way too much good for humanity as a whole for some ignorant chucklefuck with no first hand experience of what they do to dismiss it as a “grift”.

        • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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          Steve Jobs killed himself because he thought he knew better than his doctors. Well, that’s wacked out too, but at least it’s not being a Nazi…

          Steve Jobs was always a piece of shit, and he had that diet well before he got cancer. But yeah the fact he continued to double down in the face of death shows how much of a narcissist he was.

      • BertramDitore@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        No, not even a little bit. There is a difference between being an asshole and committing a hate crime. Hate crime laws, when properly crafted and enforced, are an important component of a functional society. They can act as a deterrent, but they are also a way for those materially harmed by a hate crime to get justice. Free speech is never a universal right, anywhere in the world. There are always legitimate restrictions to ensure the public’s overall health and safety.

        • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
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          No, not even a little bit. There is a difference between being an asshole and committing a hate crime.

          I’m not sure there is a difference with this law.

          Hate crime laws, when properly crafted and enforced, are an important component of a functional society.

          I’m not sure that’s true. Freedom of speech is an important component, and sometimes that means tolerating distasteful speech.

          They can act as a deterrent, but they are also a way for those materially harmed by a hate crime to get justice.

          What constitutes harm though? The UK tends to include offense (or offence) as a harm.

          Free speech is never a universal right, anywhere in the world. There are always legitimate restrictions to ensure the public’s overall health and safety.

          Absolutely, but being offended by a bigot probably shouldn’t be criminal without some component of advocacy for violence.

          A person commits an offence if they communicate material, or behave in a manner, “that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive,” with the intention of stirring up hatred based on protected characteristics.