British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday (April 2) defended JK Rowling in a row over hate crime laws, after the author challenged Scotland's new hate crime law with social media posts asserting that a number of trans women were men.

UK PM defends JK Rowling in Scottish hate crime law challenge

Reuters

Rowling, a prominent gender critical campaigner, made the comments on Monday (April 1), the day that the crime of &quot;stirring up hatred&quot; relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity came into effect.<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/11/02/22/why-daniel-radcliffe-spoke-up-vs-jk-rowling" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Why &#39;Harry Potter&#39; star Daniel Radcliffe spoke up vs JK Rowling</a>Women are not protected as a group, but the Scottish National Party-led government in Edinburgh is looking at separate reforms to target misogyny.Scotland has been at the forefront of extending rights to the transgender community but a previous attempt to make it easier to change a legal gender was blocked by London over concerns it would impinge existing equality legislation.The new hate crime law has also faced criticism over its impact on freedom of speech and concerns that it could be used to silence some views, including from those who advocate for women-only spaces.Rowling tested the law by listing 10 trans women, including a convicted rapist, sex abusers and high profile activists, on X and saying they were men.&quot;Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal,&quot; she said.&quot;I&#39;m currently out of the country, but if what I&#39;ve written here qualifies as an offense under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.&quot;Scottish ministers have previously said misgendering people would not be an offense under the new law.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday (April 2) defended JK Rowling in a row over hate crime laws, after the author challenged Scotland&#39;s new hate crime law with social media posts asserting that a number of trans women were men.&quot;We should not be criminalizing people saying common sense things about biological sex,&quot; Sunak told reporters in Hartlepool, northern England. &quot;We have a proud tradition of free speech.&quot;

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday (April 2) defended JK Rowling in a row over hate crime laws, after the author challenged Scotland's new hate crime law with social media posts asserting that a number of trans women were men.

UK PM defends JK Rowling in Scottish hate crime law challenge | ABS-CBN News

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UK PM defends JK Rowling in Scottish hate crime law challenge

UK PM defends JK Rowling in Scottish hate crime law challenge