It was no April Fool’s joke.

Harry Potter author-turned culture warrior J.K. Rowling kicked off the month with an 11-tweet social media thread in which she argued 10 transgender women were men — and dared Scottish police to arrest her.

Rowling’s intervention came as a controversial new Scottish government law, aimed at protecting minority groups from hate crimes, took effect. And it landed amid a fierce debate over both the legal status of transgender people in Scotland and over what actually constitutes a hate crime.

Already the law has generated far more international buzz than is normal for legislation passed by a small nation’s devolved parliament.

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    98 months ago

    To be honest it’s not. It’s extreme and the content of the bill itself breaks the very law it describes.

    Basically if you say any comment about a singled out group and anyone over heard you and takes offence you can br prosecuted.

    So you’re in your own home, on the phone, talking about how all black guys have massive dicks. A neighbour overhears, gets offended and reports you. Even if you don’t get arrested, prosecuted or go to jail that incident goes on your permanent record.