A broadcaster who identifies as the “world’s first transgender newsreader” reported J.K. Rowling to British police over “hateful” comments the author made on social media, sparking debate on misgendering issues and women’s rights.

British police said that on Thursday (March 7), they had received a complaint from India Willoughby, who often uses her platform to advocate for trans rights, alleging J.K. Rowling had committed a hate crime for misgendering her.

Willoughby made the accusation after Rowling posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday (March 4): “India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.”

At the time, Willoughby had replied on X: ”Genuinely disgusted by this. Grotesque transphobia, which is upsetting.

“I am every bit as much a woman as JK Rowling. Recognized in law, and by everyone I interact with every day.

“The debate about whether JK Rowling is a transphobe is over.”

A transgender broadcaster reported J.K. Rowling to British police for alleged hate speech

Image credits: Mike Marsland/Getty Image

Despite her X post encouraging numerous defamatory comments at the expense of Willoughby’s identity, Rowling rejected the allegation, saying that it was not a crime to hold gender-critical views.

Willoughby said in an interview with independent news publisher Byline Times, which was published on Wednesday (March 6): “I contacted Northumbria Constabulary yesterday.

“I have reported J.K. Rowling to the police for what she said.”

Image credits: indiawilloughby_real

The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant went on to explain that Rowling had “definitely committed a crime” and that misgendering her had been “a breach of both the Equalities Act and the Gender Recognition Act.”

She further explained: “Calling a trans person a man, deliberately knowing that that person is a woman — and I am a woman regardless of what J.K. Rowling says.

“My birth certificate says female, my passport, all my documents, I am legally recognized as a woman, and for J.K. Rowling to deliberately, and that is the key word, misgender me knowing who I am, is grossly offensive.”

India Willoughby, who often uses her platform to advocate for trans rights, identifies as the “world’s first transgender newsreader”

Image credits: indiawilloughby_real

Rowling responded to Byline Times’ X post 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.”

The Harry Potter author continued to claim that “gender-critical views can be protected in law as a philosophical belief. No law compels anyone to pretend to believe that India is a woman.”

When asked about the situation by Variety, a Northumbria Police spokesperson offered the following statement: “On Monday, March 4, we received a complaint about a post on social media.

“We are currently awaiting to speak to the complainant further.”

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. 1/5 https://t.co/kMSMBWO7gm

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 6, 2024

Last week, Rowling came under fire for criticizing Sky News on X after the British television news channel shared a story about a 26-year-old being jailed for murder and referred to her as a “woman” instead of as a “transgender woman.”

Scarlet Blake was sentenced to life imprisonment after murdering a man four months after she live-streamed a video that showed her killing a cat and placing it in a blender.

The 58-year-old Britain native has provoked controversy in the past couple of years due to her responses regarding proposed changes to UK gender recognition laws and her views on sex and gender, which are topics that have divided politics in various countries.

Willoughby explained that misgendering her was “a breach of both the Equalities Act and the Gender Recognition Act” 

Image credits: Alexander Grey

The best-selling author started to fuel debates on transgender rights in 2020, when Rowling wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that transgender people should live their lives as they pleased in “peace and security” but questioned women being “force[d] out of their jobs for stating that sex is real.”

Following the initial post, Rowling has continued to express controversial statements, with another X publication in the same year, where she mocked an article for using the phrase “people who menstruate” and wrote that women’s rights and “lived reality” would be “erased” if “sex isn’t real.”

“People who menstruate” has become an accepted term to use in order to be more inclusive of people who do not identify as female but still have their period.

Image credits: Oriel Frankie Ashcroft

Moreover, sex and gender have been scientifically proven and accepted to be different concepts, as The World Health Organisation explained that sex refers to “the different biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.”

Tia Latham, an intersex woman with what she has described to be a transgender experience, told Bored Panda: “The impact is detrimental to the trans community. It plays into many misinformed views that have been curated by people in positions of power to sensationalize, hyper-sexualize, and attack some of the most vulnerable people in society.”

Transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault, according to a new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

“It’s harassment,” a reader commented

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