J.K. Rowling Says She Would ‘Happily’ Do Prison Time Over Transgender Views

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling lights the Empire State Building to mark the launch of her non-profit children's organization Lumos, in New York, on April 9, 2015. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Author J.K. Rowling has suggested that she would “happily” spend two years in prison instead of being “forced” to refer to biological males as “women.”

Ms. Rowling, who is best known for the “Harry Potter” book series, made the comment on X, formerly Twitter, on Oct. 19, seemingly in response to reports that a Labour government in the United Kingdom could make it a criminal offense to not call someone by the pronouns they identify with.

The author initially shared a photo on X that featured the text: “Repeat after us: Trans women are women.”

Underneath the photo, she wrote simply, “No.”

“I‘ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex. Bring on the court case, I say. It’ll be more fun than I’ve ever had on a red carpet,” she added.

The English author has been a vocal supporter of biological women’s rights amid the ongoing debate regarding the transgender movement but has faced intense criticism for her beliefs, including from Harry Potter film cast members.

In June, Ms. Rowling said she believes people are entitled to reject the use of transgender terms such as “cis,” calling it “ideological language, signifying belief in the unfalsifiable concept of gender identity.”

‘People Who Menstruate’

In 2022, the author took aim at Scotland’s then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon whom she called the “destroyer of women’s rights” in response to Scotland’s controversial Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which was ultimately passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The bill amends the Gender Recognition Act 2004; making it easier for 16-year-olds to legally change their gender without medical diagnosis or evidence.

In 2020, Ms. Rowling criticized an op-ed that discussed “people who menstruate.”

“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” she wrote at the time in response to the opinion piece.“If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth. ”

“The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women—ie, to male violence—‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences—is a nonsense,” she concluded.

Ms. Rowling’s latest comments were in response to a report from The Mail on Sunday claiming that a Labour government in the UK is weighing up introducing stricter sentences for individuals who deliberately call someone by a gender they do not identify with.

According to the report, doing so deliberately could make “transphobic abuse” on par with assault and harassment motivated by hatred on the grounds of race or religion, which are punishable by up to two years in prison.

The Epoch Times could not verify the report and Labour has not yet commented on it.

However, the government last year said that “deliberately misgendering someone undermines their gender identity” and can therefore be considered transphobic in malicious contexts, which it said should be made a “hate crime” and banned.