- The row comes after JK Rowling was reported to police by India Willoughby
JK Rowling has sparked another Twitter spat with a Mother’s Day post wishing her followers ‘Happy Birthing Parent Day’.
The Harry Potter author tweeted today: ‘Happy Birthing Parent Day to all whose large gametes were fertilised resulting in small humans whose sex was assigned by doctors making mostly lucky guesses.’
The row comes after Rowling was reported to police earlier this week over accusations she ‘misgendered’ trans broadcaster India Willoughby.
Now the sarcastic Mother’s Day post has caused a fresh furore on social media with users accusing the Harry Potter author of stirring up division.
Broadcaster Narinder Kaur replied: ‘Of all the ways Rowling could have used her star status to make a difference in the world, she chose to pick on a miniscule per cent of a already very demonised group of people. So sad.’
Another user Ian Timbrell said: ‘It breaks my heart to see how she is descending into trolling and unnecessary attacks.
‘She could have wished all mothers happy Mother’s Day, but instead has decided to deliberately cause hurt and pain. History will not look kindly on it.’
A third person added: ‘Happy Mother’s Day to me, a cis woman who gave birth and isn’t threatened by others who have gave birth choosing to identify as a birthing parent because it affects no part of pregnancy, childbirth or motherhood.’
However Rowling did not back down and instead posted a second tweet saying: ‘Devastated and bewildered that my embrace of inclusive language has angered its most enthusiastic devotees, so let’s just say: Happy Mother’s Day to all females who’ve raised children.’
The 58-year-old has been particularly active on X in the last week as she feuded with Willoughby.
Willoughby claimed that Rowling had called her a ‘man’ in a series of posts on social media.
In a thread discussing whether trans women should be allowed into women’s changing rooms, Rowling said: ‘India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.’
Willoughby, who is Britain’s first trans newsreader, claimed the best-selling author had ‘definitely committed a crime’ under the 2010 Equality Act.
However, Rowling said there was no law which compelled her to refer to Willoughby as female.
Speaking to Byline TV, Willoughby said: ‘JK Rowling has definitely committed a crime.
‘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 Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act. She’s tweeted that out to 14 million followers.’
Willoughby added: ‘Well, I’ve been to the police and I’ve reported it as an issue. I contacted Northumbria Constabulary.
‘I have reported JK Rowling to the police for what she said.
‘I don’t know if that’s going to be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications, but it’s a cut-and-dry offence as far as I’m concerned.
‘And at the end of the day, it is a hate crime. Transgender identity is a protected characteristic, just as race is, just as sexuality is.
‘And the equivalent of what JK Rowling said, calling a trans person a man deliberately… I am legally recognised as a woman and for JK Rowling to deliberately, and that is the key word, misgender me knowing who I am is grossly offensive.
‘It is a hate crime and it should be treated just as somebody calling a black person the N-word or an Asian person the P-word.’
However on March 9 it emerged that the complaint against Rowling had been thrown out and she would face no police action.
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: ‘While we recognise the upset this may have caused, the post was reviewed and did not meet the criminal threshold.’
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
