Her name’s Jo, and she thinks trans people should go to the gas chambers...
Outrage at police ‘parody of J.K. Rowling’
POLICE Scotland has been accused of defaming J.K. Rowling by inventing a fictional character called ‘Jo’ who calls for transgender people to be sent to the gas chambers.
At a hate crime event, officers were given a ‘scenario’ in which ‘Jo’ is described as a passionate gendercritical campaigner who, like the Harry Potter author, believes people cannot change sex.
Women’s groups and a leading SNP MP claimed the character was a thinly veiled parody of Ms Rowling, whose first name is Joanne and is called Jo by her friends.
The hate crime ‘youth engagement’ event, held in February, was part of a programme organised by Police Scotland for LGBT history month.
The row comes ahead of the introduction on April 1 of hate crime laws in Scotland, which critics warn are an attack on freedom of speech.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry KC branded the alleged parody ‘disgraceful’, adding it is ‘so telling that they couldn’t find a real-life example, so chose instead to create a fictional one which is arguably defamatory of the woman at whom it is so clearly directed’.
The hate crime event, supported by Police Scotland and jointly organised by the Scottish LGBTI Police Association and the Time for Inclusive Education ( TIE) campaign group, invited attendees to consider the case of ‘Jo’.
She is described as an ‘ online influencer’ who is ‘very active’ on the social media platform TikTok, and has a ‘large following’.
Ms Rowling is active on X, formerly Twitter, and has 14 million followers.
The scenario states that ‘ Jo often gets very passionate about her beliefs and will say things like “there are only two genders ...” ’
Ms Rowling regularly expresses similar sentiments on social media.
The scenario concludes by stating: ‘Jo posted her most recent video with the caption: “They all belong in the gas chambers.” ’
Attendees were then asked to discuss whether a hate crime had been committed by ‘Jo’ and ‘what action do you think police should take?’ Views expressed by attendees were then ‘fed back to decisionmakers within Police Scotland’.
Marion Calder, a director at campaign group For Women Scotland, said the materials were ‘clearly trying to create a link with J.K. Rowling’ and that it was ‘deeply concerning’ to
‘Defamatory of Potter author’
see ‘Jo’ quickly leap from ‘reasonable statements’ to the Holocaust.
‘ This suggests gender- critical women with a high profile endorse a mass extinction, which is frankly bonkers, and sends a message that perfectly sane women have been radicalised,’ she added.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said the event was ‘not mandatory for officers’, adding: ‘Our training for the new [hate crime] Act reflects all aspects of the new legislation, including the protection it includes around freedom of expression.’
Ms Rowling declined to comment.