JK Rowling has said that she would "happily" go to jail for misgendering people in a tweet that has divided social media.
Taking to Twitter, better known now as X, the 58-year-old Harry Potter author posted what seems to be a projection of a message outside of the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom that reads: "Repeat after us: Trans women are women" to which she captioned with the word "No."
Musician Scott Spalding replied to the tweet writing: "Vote Labour, get a two-year stretch" as a response to a a report in the Mail on Sunday that suggested hypothetical law changes under a Labour government.
As per the Independent, people could be handed up to a two-year sentence for gender-related "aggravated offenses" which includes misgendering, which is a term that describes being referred to as the wrong gender.
Replying to Spalding, Rowling said: "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.
Have a look at the post below:The author then played about on the idea of imprisonment in an interaction with another follower, who seemingly agreed with her writing: "See you on the inside. I quite fancy the kitchens."
"Hoping for the library, obviously, but I think I could do ok in the kitchens," she wrote. "Laundry might be a problem. I have a tendency to shrink stuff/turn it pink accidentally. Guessing that won’t be a major issue if it’s mostly scrubs and sheets, though."
"I‘m ok at ironing. It’s the not checking there’s a random red sock in amongst the sheets that’s the issue," she quipped in a follow-up tweet.
Others seemed to also take the tweet lightheartedly, with some chiming in saying: "See you in there Jo" while another added: "Prisoner Cell Block XX."
However, not everyone was best pleased, with this user hitting back at the author with: "You think this is funny? Unfortunately the reality is that the discrimination of trans people is very harmful to this minority group."
According to the Huffington Post, the U.K. already recognizes hate crimes based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity though the Mail quoted an anonymous conservative politician and anti-trans activists who speculated this could lead to people being imprisoned solely for deliberately calling someone by the incorrect pronouns.
However, this has not been confirmed as the direction the political party would be taking with the alleged measures as it is all just speculation further prompted by the report.
JK Rowling has been pretty vocal about her stance on the transgender community over the past few years.
Last year, she addressed the Scotland’s proposed Gender Recognition Act in a lengthy statement posted to her website.
"A few weeks ago, I posted a picture of myself wearing a T-shirt printed with the words 'Nicola Sturgeon: Destroyer of Women’s Rights' on Twitter," she wrote. "I did this to show my solidarity with women who were protesting outside the Scottish Parliament against the proposed Gender Recognition Act reform bill."
"Soon, then, in Scotland, it may be easier to change the sex on your birth certificate than it is to change it on your passport," she continued. "In consequence, intact males who’re judged to have met the meagre requirements will be considered as 'valid' and entitled to protections as those who’ve had full sex reassignment surgery, and more male-bodied individuals will assert more strongly a right to be in women’s spaces such as public bathrooms, changing rooms, rape support centres, domestic violence refuges, hospital wards and prison cells that were hitherto reserved for women."
In the end, Scottish legislators passed the law though the UK is still debating the issue.