The Scotsman

JK Rowling reacts to trans activist’s police report

- Hannah Roberts

Author JK Rowling has said the “police are going to be very busy” amid accusation­s shem is gendered broadcast er India Willoughby.

In an interview with Byline TV, Willoughby, 58, a trans woman and broadcast er, told journalist caol an robertson that she had reported the Harry Potter author to the police for calling her a man.

Following the release of the filmed interview, Row ling ,58, said that willoughby appeared to have forgotten the Forstater ruling, which "establishe­d that gender critical views can be protected in law".

Maya Forstater successful­ly brought a case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal to establish that gender critical views are a protected philosophi­cal belief under the equality act 2010 in 2021.

Rowling later reposted a clip of Robertson in which he said he had contacted the author for an interview as well. She accused the journalist of calling Willoughby "him" twice in the video. The captions refer to willoughby as" them" and robertson has refuted Rowling's claims.

Rowling also said in the post: "Extraordin­ary… The police are going to be very busy."

On Sunday, the Harry Potter writer posted a criticism of trans women being allowed into women' s changing rooms on X and in the thread she spoke about Willoughby and said: “India didn’t become a woman. India is cos playing a misogynist­ic male fantasy of what a woman is.”

In the interview with by line TV, Willoughby said of the posts: “JK Rowling has definitely committed a crime.

“I’m legally a woman. She knows I'm a woman and she calls me a man. It’s a protected characteri­stic.

“And that is a breach of both the equality act and the gender Recognitio­n Act .”

Under the Equality Act 2010, a person cannot discrimina­te against another because of a protected characteri­stic, such as gender reassignme­nt.

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