A FORMER ITV Border newsreader from Carlisle has said she has reported Harry Potter author JK Rowling to the police following another online spat.
India Willoughby, 58, was the first transgender newsreader on British television and has been well-known in the media for her campaigns on trans rights.
She worked at ITV Border for more than 10 years and has since gone on to present the national news on Channel Five and present Loose Women.
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books as well as the Cormoran Strike detective novels, is also known for her views on sex and gender issues, often expressed on the platform X (formerly Twitter).
Her views on transgender women using female-only spaces and other controversial topics frequently prompt criticism online.
The alleged hate crime occurred on Sunday when Rowling was discussing trans women using female changing rooms on X.
In response to a commenter posting a video of Willoughby on socials, asking if Rowling thought that she should be allowed to use female changing rooms, Rowling replied, "You've sent me the wrong video.
“There isn't a lady in this one, just a man revelling in his misogynistic performance of what he thinks 'woman' means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist."
In an interview with Byline TV, Willoughby said: “JK Rowling has 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 equalities act and the gender recognition act.
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“I’ve been to the police, and I’ve reported it as an issue. I don’t know whether that is going to be a hate crime or malicious communications, but it’s a cut and dried offence.”
In another tweet, JK Rowling said: "Accurately sexing trans-identified men who send misogynistic abuse to women is not discrimination.
“'Man' is not a slur... there is no human right to universal validation."
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