JK Rowling has been praised by academic and author Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans, after the Harry Potter creator expressed her concerns for the new Scottish legislation against hate crime.
Scotland has introduced the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 this week, which could see offenders sent to jail for "stirring up hate" about an individual’s age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Author JK Rowling, who has fearlessly fought for the rights of biological women in recent years, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share her views on the Act.
Rowling invited Police Scotland to "arrest her" for her views on transgender women, however the police force confirmed that her remarks are "not criminal".
Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans said Rowling is 'protecting women who are frightened to speak out'
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Reacting to JK Rowling's stance on the legislation, Brunskell-Evans told GB News that the author is "brilliant" and is "standing up for women who are frightened to speak out" about transgender issues.
Brunskell-Evans said Rowling speaking out so publicly is a "really good thing" and the "strategic move" has "provided a buffer zone between herself and the ordinary woman on the street".
In the GB News discussion, host Tom Harwood asked Brunskell-Evans if Rowling's fame has meant she has been "treated differently" in regards to the Act and its consequences.
Brunskell-Evans said: "Probably, because what is actually happening with the new act is that it's crystallising what has been going on for a number of years."
JK Rowling has publicly hit out at the introduction of the new legislation
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Brunskell-Evans hit out at the Hate Crime and Public Disorder Act, warning that Scotland could become "authoritarian" in regards to free speech.
She told GB News: "We don't want to live in an authoritarian, tyrannical regime where any person says something that can be subjectively interpreted by another person as hate and the police become involved.
"The police should not be those who are left in charge of what we can and we cannot say."
Brunskell-Evans revealed she was also once reported to the police for a "non crime hate incident", following a talk on young transgender children.
She explained: "I myself indeed was reported to the West Yorkshire Police. I gave a talk on my belief that it's very harmful to medicalise children on the basis that they identify, as a young person, as transgender, and that was interpreted by somebody in the audience is a very hateful thing to say."
Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans praised Rowling's 'brilliant strategic move' against the act
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She continued: "Obviously there were people in the audience who liked what I said. But the point is that hate is a very subjective thing. The point is, it didn't go any further, but that is the reality of it, it could have gone further."
When asked if she is worried that the law could be implemented in England as a result of Scotland's act, Brunskell-Evans said it will now be "more difficult" for England to adopt such a law, given the coverage surrounding JK Rowling.
Brunskell-Evans said: "Hopefully with the great media coverage JK Rowling has managed to establish, there may be some difficulty in it being adopted by England.
"As I say, this has been going on for years without it really coming to public knowledge. So I think now that that's happened, England, Scotland and Wales may be in unison about this."