J.K. Rowling on Sunday mocked the absurdity of a new Scottish police policy that allows male rapists to identify as female, implying that the policy is Orwellian.
"War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman," Rowling tweeted, alluding to a memorable line from George Orwell's 1984. Under the policy, if a man who identifies as a woman rapes someone, the rapist will be recorded as a female, regardless of whether the man has legally changed his gender. Rowling was responding to a story from the London Times that called the policy an "absurdity."
War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.
The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.https://t.co/SyxFnnboM1— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 12, 2021
The bestselling author of the Harry Potter series has come under fire before for her views on transgenderism. In June 2020, Rowling disparaged an article that used the phrase "people who menstruate."
"'People who menstruate,'" Rowling said. "I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
Rowling has denounced the "climate of fear" that surrounds the cultural debate over transgenderism. She has said that "sex is real" and that women who have undergone "irreversible" gender surgery have written "heartbreaking" letters to her, showing overwhelming support. Rowling has also said "women are concerned about the challenges to their fundamental rights posed by certain aspects of gender identity ideology."
Her critics have called her a "TERF," or "Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist," a moniker that comedian Dave Chappelle has taken up as a badge of honor rather than a term of derision.
"I'm team TERF," he said during his Netflix special The Closer, responding to the dust-up over Rowling's opinions on transgenderism.
Activists have tried to intimidate Rowling for her views. Rowling in November called out transgender activists who shared her home address on social media and said she has received "death threats."