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"Harry Potter" author JK Rowling gave a scathing response to a transgender broadcaster who reported her to law enforcement for committing a "hate crime" of misgendering.
English broadcaster India Willoughby, who identifies as a transgender woman, accused the famous author of violating discrimination laws by calling Willoughby "a man" in a social media post on March 4.
"J.K. Rowling has definitely committed a crime. I’m legally a woman. She knows I’m a woman, and she called me a man," Willoughby said in an interview with Byline TV on Wednesday. "It’s a protected characteristic, and that is a breach of both the Equalities Act and the Gender Recognition Act. She’s tweeted that out to 14 million followers."
"I have reported J.K. Rowling to the police for what she said, which I don’t know if that’s going to be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications — but it’s a cut-and-dry offense, as far as I’m concerned," Willoughby continued. "At the end of the day it is a hate crime."
JK Rowling speaks up on transgender people invading women's spaces. (Getty Images)
Rowling fired back at the broadcaster in several social media posts on Thursday.
"Some time ago, lawyers advised me that not only did I have a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation, but that India's obsessive targeting of me over the past few years may meet the legal threshold for harassment," Rowling retorted on X.
"I ignored this advice because I couldn't be bothered giving India the publicity he so clearly craves," she continued.
Rowling cited a legal ruling in the UK which found views critical of gender ideology were protected under the Equality Act, before arguing that "No law compels anyone to pretend to believe that India is a woman."
X users left a community note under a clip from the interview that seemed to agree with Rowling's point of view.
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Rowling argued it was not illegal to be critical of gender ideology under UK law. (Getty)
"In the UK, discrimination against someone with a protected characteristic may be a crime. However, it is not a crime to refer to a trans-identified person by their sex. Such speech is recognized as an expression of belief and protected under the Equality Act 2010," the community note read.
Rowling concluded her defense with blunt criticism of her accuser.
"Aware as I am that it's an offense to lie to law enforcement, I'll simply have to explain to the police that, in my view, India is a classic example of the male narcissist who lives in a state of perpetual rage that he can't compel women to take him at his own valuation," she remarked.
The Northumbria Police Department confirmed a complaint had been filed against Rowling on March 4, the same day she sent the tweet criticizing Willoughby.
"On Monday, March 4, we received a complaint about a post on social media. We are currently awaiting to speak to the complainant further," a spokesperson said in a statement to Variety.
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Rowling has been targeted by left-wing activists for pushing back on transgender ideology over the past few years.
Last October, Rowling confessed she felt so strongly about the gender issue that she would "happily" spend time in jail if her government made it a crime to "misgender" a transgender person.
"I'll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex," Rowling posted on X after one user told her that under the Labour Party, that could mean two years in jail. "Bring on the court case, I say. It'll be more fun than I've ever had on a red carpet."
Fox News' Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.