A key aspect of the transgender movement’s success has been the inclusion of “gender identity and expression” into hate crime laws.
For most, when these laws began to pass, this was merely an extension of earlier expansions to hate crime codes, which included sexual orientation or behavior. The implications of these laws—that they essentially force entire populations to play along with and positively affirm the delusions of those who identified along an ever-expanding scale of identity options—were noted only by a few, such as Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. He is now famous as a public intellectual, but many forget that his rise to fame was triggered by his stated willingness to go to jail rather than be compelled to use “preferred pronouns.”
These laws have been tremendously successful at cowing ordinary people into acquiescence. Many corporations, universities, and other institutions now demand that people supply their pronouns in an implicit affirmation of the transgender movement’s worldview. Those who refuse have discovered that Peterson’s dark predictions were not hyperbole. A teacher in Ireland, for example was jailed for refusing to use a student’s “gender-neutral” pronouns. Female convicts have been threatened with lengthier sentences for “misgendering” trans-identified male prisoners. California healthcare workers can get fines or prison time for “willfully” declining to use “preferred pronouns.” Jailtime for violations of gender ideology aren’t a right-wing fever dream—this is happening.
Thus, when Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling announced, on October 17, that she would “happily” do time in prison for “misgendering” if the U.K. government makes it a hate crime, she knew that there are plenty of trans activists who would like to make that a reality. Rowling has been one of the most vocal—and certainly the most high-profile—critics of the transgender movement for several years now, and she frequently speaks out on X (formerly Twitter) on the subject. In response to a photo of a letters projected outside the U.K.’s Ministry of Justice stating “Repeat After Us: Trans Women Are Women,” Rowling responded simply: “No.” One X user promptly noted that if the Labour Party is elected, her statement could earn her two years in prison.
“I’ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex,” Rowling responded. “Bring on the court case, I say. It’ll be more fun than I’ve ever had on a red carpet.”
