[ad_1]
British television personality India Willoughby says it has reported “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling, who has shared anti-trans rhetoric in recent years, to UK authorities for misgendering her on social media.
Willoughby, co-host of the popular ITV talk show “Loose Women,” revealed on an interview with Byline TV posted on Wednesday that she “reported JK Rowling to the police for what she said.” Willoughby added that she had contacted Northumbria Police “yesterday” about the matter.
The “Loose Women” co-host’s name came up on Monday, after another social media user shared a GIF of Willoughby dancing in a comment thread under one of Rowling’s posts on X, formerly Twitter. The British author answered“India did not become a woman. India is disguising a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.”
In the interview, Willoughby said: “For JK Rowling to deliberately misgender me knowing who I am is hugely offensive. It’s a hate crime.
“I don’t know if (the police report) is going to be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications, but it’s a simple crime, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
USA TODAY has contacted representatives from ITV, Rowling and Northumbria Police for comment.
JK Rowling responds to India Willoughby’s claims on social media
After Willoughby’s interview, Rowling opted for a five part answer Wednesday, which began with the writer claiming that she has “a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation” and that “India’s obsessive pursuit of me over the past few years may meet the legal threshold for harassment.”
In the following publications, Rowling wrote that “the Forstater ruling established that gender-critical views can be protected by law as a philosophical belief. No law forces anyone to pretend to believe that India is a woman.”
The Forstater ruling he referred to was a 2021 case in which a labor appeal court found that “gender critical beliefs, which include the belief that sex is immutable and should not be confused with gender identity”, were protected by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and the Section of the Equality Act 2010 about “religion or belief.”
“This ruling does not mean that those who hold gender-critical beliefs can ‘confuse’ the gender of trans people with impunity,” the ruling states. “Plaintiff, like everyone else, will continue to be subject to the prohibitions of discrimination and harassment that apply to everyone else.”
Rowling continued“Aware as I am that lying to the authorities is a crime, I will simply have to explain to the police that, in my opinion, India is a classic example of the male narcissist who lives in a state of perpetual rage that cannot force the women to take it according to their own assessment.
Rowling has been heavily criticized, and equally defended, since she made a series of posts in 2020 that conflated sex with gender and espoused ideas that suggested changing one’s biological sex threatened her own gender identity. Since then, Rowling has become increasingly vocal about her anti-trans beliefs.
JK Rowling’s post sparked a “flurry” of “absolutely disgusting” comments, India Willoughby said
In her interview with Byline TV, Willoughby described Rowling’s post as “insulting. It’s so dehumanizing. And I’m really tired of it. And at the end of the day, it’s a hate crime. Transgender identity is a protected characteristic, just like race is, just as sexuality is.”
She added: “I am a woman regardless of what JK Rowling says. I have been through everything that is required of me. My birth certificate says woman, my passport. I am legally recognized as a woman.”
Rowling’s post on
“Having that deluge is really difficult,” he shared. “Transphobia is not taken seriously” in the UK, she concluded.
According to material published by the UK Government Equality Office In 2018, 41% of transgender people reported in a national survey that they had experienced a hate crime or incident due to their gender identity in the previous year. “Gender reassignment” is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010which “legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in society at large.”
Trans ‘Harry Potter’ fans speak out:Dealing with JK Rowling’s legacy after her transphobic comments
JK Rowling’s comments about transgender people date back to 2019
Rowling was first criticized in 2019 for posting on X a message supporting Maya Forstater, a researcher who lost her job at a think tank for claiming that people cannot change their biological sex.
In response, GLAAD shared a statement condemning Rowling for aligning “with an anti-science ideology that denies the basic humanity of transgender people. Trans men, trans women, and non-binary people are not a threat, and implying otherwise.” puts Rowling in danger.” trans people at risk.”
Months later, Rowling caused a similar stir by criticizing a headline on the website. devex.com. The op-ed included the phrase “people who menstruate” to be more inclusive. “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people,” Rowling posted in X. “Someone help me. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
After facing backlash, Rowling stood her ground, stating that her life “has been shaped by being a woman” and defended the exclusionary comments while arguing that she still supports transgender people.
“I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex eliminates the ability of many to speak meaningfully about their lives,” he wrote in a series of publications. “It’s not hate to tell the truth… I respect the right of every trans person to live in any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I would march with you if you were discriminated against for being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being a woman. I don’t think it’s hateful to say it.”
Last year, Rowling addressed the criticism she received on the podcast. “The Witch Trials by JK Rowling“.
“I absolutely knew that if I spoke out, many people who would love my books would be deeply unhappy with me,” Rowling said. “Time will tell if I was wrong. I can only say that I have thought about it deeply, intensely and for a long time and that I have listened, I promise, to the other side.”
How the cast of ‘Harry Potter’ feels:Rupert Grint describes his relationship with JK Rowling as “complicated”
Contributing: Barbara VanDenburgh and Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY
