Yesterday I noted here the latest J. K. Rowling controversy, in which the Harry Potter author called a TV personality and British trans activist, India (formerly Jonathan) Willoughby, a man — which is what he is.
On X, a user posted a video of Willoughby pouting and suggestively dancing and asked if Rowling thought “this lady should use the men’s locker room.” Rowling replied: “You’ve sent me the wrong video. There isn’t a lady in this one, just a man reveling in his misogynistic performance of what he thinks ‘woman’ means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist.”
Rowling doubled down, saying, “India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.”
Now, Willoughby has reported the author to the police, claiming on Byline TV that the author was guilty of a “cut-and-dry-offense,” though he added he wasn’t sure “if it’s going to be treated as a hate crime [or] malicious communications.”
He said: “I’m legally a woman, she knows I’m a woman, and she calls me a man. 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.”
In response to Willoughby’s claim, Rowling wrote: “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.”
In the past, Rowling has said she would rather be imprisoned than succumb to compelled speech. Intimidation campaigns against her won’t work. So if it’s a legal fight trans activists want with her, bring it on.