<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taylor-swift">Taylor Swift</a> fans attending her concerts in Edinburgh, Scotland, for her massively popular Eras Tour danced so hard that they registered as seismic activity during each of her three shows.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) confirmed that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/earthquake">earthquake</a> readings could be detected up to 6 km (around 4 miles) away from Swift&#8217;s concerts last weekend at Murrayfield Stadium, per <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/taylor-swift-concerts-earthquake-edinburgh-scotland-seismic-activity-eras-tour-fans-dancing/">CBS News</a>. 
The outlet noted that BGS said the most seismic activity occurred during Swift&#8217;s performance of three songs:  &#8220;…Ready For It?&#8221; &#8220;Cruel Summer&#8221; and &#8220;champagne problems.&#8221; 
“Dancing in time to the music and reached its peak at 160 beats per minute (bpm) during ‘…Ready For It?’, where the crowd was transmitting approximately 80 kW of power (equivalent to around 10 to16 car batteries),” the BGS noted. The loud bass in that song and the dancing generated the activity.
Scientists referred to the event as “ground shaking,” noting that Swift’s Friday night show caused the most seismic activity, delivering 23.4 nanometres (nm) of movement. The crowd and music on Saturday generated 22.8 nm, while it was 23.3 nm on Sunday.
The report noted that the fans attending the shows were likely the only ones to notice the shaking. 
This is not the first time seismic activity has been detected from a crowd. CBS noted that the same phenomenon happened at Swift’s stop in Seattle last summer. At the time, it was dubbed a “Swift Quake.”
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1716990157394000&amp;usg=AOvVaw33qQydjIo8bet419amChif">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/27/entertainment/taylor-swift-seismic-activity/index.html">CNN</a> at the time that the seismic activity was &#8220;equivalent [to] a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.”
&#8220;I grabbed the data from both nights of the concert and quickly noticed they were clearly the same pattern of signals,&#8221; Caplan-Auerback told the outlet. &#8220;If I overlay them on top of each other, they&#8217;re nearly identical.&#8221;
Ground shaking from large crowds of fans expressing enthusiasm is not limited to concerts. According to CBS, seismic activity occurred during a 2011 NFL playoff game at Qwest Field when the Seattle Seahawks hosted the New Orleans Saints. This was spurred by a huge fan reaction to a play made by Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. 
The resulting shaking earned Lynch the nickname “Beast Quake.”

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift Fans Created Seismic Activity In Scotland With Their Dancing

earthquake

Entertainment

Music

Scotland

World

The man whose 2015 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150227014959/http:/swiked.tumblr.com/post/112073818575/guys-please-help-me-is-this-dress-white-and" target="_blank" rel="noopener">photo of a dress</a> caused an internet sensation has pleaded guilty to strangling his wife.
Keir Johnston, 38, recently pleaded guilty to attacking his wife, Grace, during an assault that occurred on March 6, 2022, People Magazine <a href="https://people.com/groom-who-made-the-dress-go-viral-in-2015-admits-he-tried-to-strangle-his-wife-8646499" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. He was previously known for posting a photo of a blue and black dress that appeared to some as white and gold.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
From this day on, the world will be divided into two people. Blue &amp; black, or white &amp; gold. <a href="http://t.co/xJeR7GldwP">http://t.co/xJeR7GldwP</a> <a href="http://t.co/i6BwVzPzSZ">pic.twitter.com/i6BwVzPzSZ</a>
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) <a href="https://twitter.com/EllenDeGeneres/status/571128725112094720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Johnston was indicted following the incident, which involved him pinning his wife to the ground, straddling her, and choking her. During that incident, he also threatened to kill her and waved a knife. He reportedly told her, “Somebody is going to die,” according to testimony in the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland, on May 9, The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/10/man-behind-viral-dress-pleads-guilty-endangering-wifes-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Grace called for help, saying, “My husband is trying to kill me.”
Chris Macintosh, prosecutor for the crown, told the judge in the case that Grace had few options since the couple lived on the remote Isle of Colonsay.
“There is no permanent police presence on the island, and she was in a situation where she felt trapped,” Macintosh said, according to the Guardian.
The incident began after Johnston discovered Grace had gone to a job interview on the mainland, defying his demands that she not go. Prior to the attack, Johnston was reportedly drinking at a pub and texted his wife: “You should support me but you do not.”
He then went home and passed out. When Grace returned to their home, he “woke up and said that he was going to leave her,” Macintosh told the court. “She went outside the property to stop him leaving. He followed her and pinned her to the ground.”
“[Johnston] placed both knees on her arms, so she was unable to move,” Macintosh added. “He then began strangling her with both his hands. She was initially able to scream and feared for her life and believed Johnston intended to kill her as he was very forceful.”
Grace received several severe bruises from the attack but did not require medical attention.
Johnston’s defense attorney, Marco Guarino, told the court that his client had accepted responsibility for the attack, but the judge, Lady Drummond, denied bail, saying: “I have no need to tell you that this is a serious and violent offense.”
“You repeatedly strangled her, injured her and put her life in danger in what must have been absolutely terrifying circumstances for her,” she added. “I am afraid, Mr Johnston, that your status has now changed, you have been convicted of a very serious crime and you will be remanded meantime.”
Johnston is set to be sentenced on June 6.
Johnston and Grace became famous in 2015 after he posted a photo of a dress Grace’s mother planned to wear at their wedding. The photo posted online showed the dress as either black and blue or white and gold depending on the viewer. Subsequent images of the dress showed that it was a vibrant blue and black, but the original picture fooled man, including this reporter.
New York University neuroscientist Pascal Wallisch <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2017/april/why-did-we-see-_the-dress-differently--the-answer-lies-in-the-sh.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20original%20image%20was%20overexposed,affects%20the%20colors%20we%20see.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a> that people saw the dress differently because of how the brain processes assumptions based on how the dress was illuminated.
“The original image was overexposed, rendering the illumination source uncertain,” Wallisch. “As a result, we make assumptions about how the dress was illuminated, which affects the colors we see.”
If people assumed the dress was photographed in a shadow, it may appear gold and white, while those who believed it was illuminated by artificial light saw it as black and blue.
“This is a basic cognitive function: to appreciate the color on an object, the illumination source has to be taken into account, which the brain does continuously,” Wallisch added.

Glasgow Police

Groom Who Took The Viral Black/Blue White/Gold Dress Photo Pleads Guilty To Strangling His Wife

Crime

Domestic Violence

Gender ideology is a fickle friend.
Just ask Humza Yousaf. The Scottish premier used his “woke” credentials to ascend to power last year in a battle against more “common-sense” candidates – espousing an agenda to extoll trans-ideology as the highest driving value, and bulldozing anyone who raised concerns as a “hateful” bigot.
He won the top spot in governance. But what brings you up can tear you down twice as fast – so indicated by his resignation today.
Yousaf’s leadership of Scotland may have been bolstered by ideological adages that made for exciting soundbites. Indeed, his profile gained him support from the ultra-left Green Party, who governed alongside his Scottish National Party in a power-sharing agreement. 
One policy platform became more wildly unhinged than the next – from chilling conversations around the family dinner table about gender; to forbidding parents from objecting to their child cross-dressing. 
Yet every deceitful piece of lip service to an ideology founded on the claim that men can become women at will, will eventually hit the curb of reality. And when respected and established pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass released her high-profile, U.K. government-commissioned review of children’s “gender services,” she conclusively unveiled the distinct medical threat posed to children buying into the lie that their bodies are “wrong.”
The Scottish government had a conundrum to deal with. Cass’s review revealed an uncomfortable truth — that rather than merely allowing children “time to think” by delaying the onset of puberty, the vast majority of those treated with puberty blockers continued on a journey to cross-sex hormones. A conveyor belt of bodily confusion puts vulnerable young people at risk of serious and irreversible mutilation, as well as destroying fertility, among other life-altering consequences. Brain maturation may also be “temporarily or permanently disrupted” by puberty blockers, according to Cass’s findings. The impact of puberty blockers on mental health has not been fully explored, and some female patients experienced worsening depression or anxiety.
By affirming the belief that their bodies are “wrong,” the cheerful, rainbow-coloured party line of the Scottish government was going to destroy a troubled generation of youngsters whose lives had barely begun.
In an act of sheer necessity, Scottish authorities peddled back their extreme ideological drive a few weeks ago, pausing the distribution of puberty blockers to under-18s. But gender ideology isn’t a genie that can be shoved back into the bottle. This decision, paired with a further announcement scrapping unrealistic climate targets to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030, was enough to send the leftist alliance into a tailspin. Within days, the government SNP-Green pact broke apart, a motion of no confidence was filed, and Humza, jumping before he was pushed, was out on his ear.
It’s incredible that Humza found himself in this trap, considering the circumstances under which his predecessor left office. Nicola Sturgeon, who governed our country for almost a decade, also became a victim of her own puritanical virtue-signaling. Sturgeon clung so tightly to the mantras of modern sexual orthodoxy that she championed a policy of self-ID, which would have allowed any male in Scotland to access female-only changing rooms or rape crisis centers with little difficulty. When confronted with the reality that this could mean sending convicted double-rapists into women’s prison blocks, she had no ledge of common reason to grasp hold of to protect women’s basic safety. Her departure swiftly ensued.
“Woke” is an unforgiving and judgmental religion. It yields no grace for its most powerful adherents. Yet even this beast is no match for the power of truth. After two car crash leaderships, it’s time for a re-enlightenment in Scotland — a rediscovery of what it means to govern on the basis of reality. The Scottish people are neither blind nor docile. Women have spoken up, parents have voiced their concerns, and for too long, all who objected to the toxic ideology were branded “bigots.” It’s time for a government that hears and reflects the people. It’s time for a leader who upholds and safeguards the basic rights of women and children, and ends the madness that manipulates vulnerable people into rejecting their own bodies. The rest of the world, too, can learn from our sorry tale. This might be the government that “woke” broke; but we have every opportunity, at this juncture, to rise as the country that broke “woke.”
* * *
Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) is a Scottish commentator and Senior Legal Communications Officer for Alliance Defending Freedom UK.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Scotland’s First Minister And Leader Of The SNP Humza Yousaf Resigns from Office

Truth Has Toppled Another Woke Scottish Leader

Parliament

Readers Pass

Transgender

United Kingdom

Woke Culture

Scotland has paused all new prescriptions of transgender medications such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors, the latest in a string of developments in Britain pumping the brakes on transgender medical services for minors.
Scotland&#8217;s only youth gender clinic, the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow, which is operated by Scotland’s National Health Service (NHS) <a href="https://www.sandyford.scot/sexual-health-services/gender-service-at-sandyford/gender-young-people-service/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made</a> the announcement on Thursday.
New prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have been paused, although children already receiving these drugs will be able to remain on them, the clinic said in a statement. Teenagers must now be 18 before being prescribed cross-sex hormones, the clinic said.
&#8220;We are committed to providing the best possible clinical care for young people accessing and understand the distress that gender incongruence can cause,&#8221; the clinic said. &#8220;While this pause is in place, we will continue to give anyone who is referred into the Young People Gender Service the psychological support that they require while we review the pathways in line with the findings.&#8221;
Scotland&#8217;s decision <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/weak-evidence-britains-nhs-to-review-all-transgender-treatment-after-major-report">comes after</a> the release of the Cass Review, a long-awaited review criticizing youth transgender medical services was released last week in England.
The landmark final <a href="https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass is the result of a major independent <a href="https://cass.independent-review.uk/publications/interim-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">review</a> on children and gender identity <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/gender-dysphoria-clinical-programme/implementing-advice-from-the-cass-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commissioned</a> by the NHS in 2020.
“The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress,” Cass stated in her report. The evidence we do have for gender medicine is built on “shaky foundations,” she wrote in an accompanying <a class="css-yywogo" title="" href="https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q814" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">editorial</a> published in a medical journal.
Puberty blockers should no longer be prescribed to children except in the context of research due to these powerful drugs’ effects on brain development and bone health, the report says.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1713611654298000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3YPWSe9w05H79aayRzLC1M">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Cross-sex hormones — estrogen and testosterone — should be prescribed to trans-identifying 16 and 17-year-olds only with an “extremely cautious” approach, and there should be a “clear clinical rationale” for not waiting until the teen is 18, the report says.
Waiting would preserve fertility and manage any other conditions. The report also warns that children who are referred to gender services present with high rates of abuse and neglect including sexual abuse and parental substance abuse.
In the wake of the report, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) said all new treatment for 16 and 17-year-olds will be paused immediately, and it will review all transgender medical treatment.
The week before the report was released, the Tavistock clinic, England’s only youth gender identity clinic, officially closed its doors after being dogged by controversy for years.
The clinic, the biggest in the world, <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2024/03/inside-the-collapse-of-the-tavistock-centre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> thousands of children for puberty blockers. In its last years, Tavistock began to see an increasing flood of young girls with gender-related distress asking for drugs despite having other mental issues like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and histories of abuse.
In the U.S., <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/indianas-ban-on-transgender-medical-services-for-minors-can-take-effect-court-rules#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least</a> 23 states have already moved to ban medical transgender services for children.

Pediatrician doing development medical exam with little girl, checking posture.

Scotland Pauses Transgender Medications For Minors

Children

Gender

Health Care

Scotland&#8217;s proposed new misogyny law will protect trans-identifying men as well as women, First Minister Humza Yousaf said during a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw59e7dg2nlo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent appearance</a> on &#8220;Good Morning Scotland.&#8221;
A bill designed &#8220;to tackle misogyny&#8221; is expected to be introduced sometime prior to the end of the current parliamentary term in 2026 and, according to Yousaf, will include protections for anyone who identifies as a woman regardless of their biological sex.
&#8220;Women and girls will be protected, and trans women will be protected as well, as they will often be the ones who suffer threats of rape or threats of disfigurement for example,&#8221; Yousaf told the program. &#8220;When a trans woman is walking down the street and a threat of rape is made against them, the man making the threat doesn’t know if they are a trans woman or a cis woman. They will make that threat because the perception of that person [is] as a woman.&#8221;
The bill, according to another government spokesperson, will aim to address misogyny by working to &#8220;create a new focus on protecting women and girls to address criminal behavior motivated purely by misogyny.&#8221;
The new law, according to advocates, is necessary because the recently implemented <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-look-forward-to-being-arrested-jk-rowling-torches-scotlands-new-hate-crime-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hate Crimes Act</a> does not address crimes against women or rooted in misogyny — although it does offer protections for &#8220;marginalized groups&#8221; like those who identify as transgender.
Author J.K. Rowling responded to the news in a post on X, arguing that including biological males under the law&#8217;s protections meant that the focus was not truly on women and girls at all.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712932862202000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0plT8RRdMy9XUpIhocnjQS">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
&#8220;Once again, @HumzaYousaf makes his absolute contempt for women and their rights clear. Women were excluded from his nonsensical hate crime law, now he introduces a &#8216;misogyny law&#8217; designed to also protect men,&#8221; she posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Trans-identified men have sent violent threats to women but the likes of Beth Douglas (attached) now receive double protection from Yousaf: for his so-called gender identity, and for also being, in the eyes of the Scottish government, a woman. 2/2<a href="https://t.co/98yBu7UXmD">https://t.co/98yBu7UXmD</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1780228828972929332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Trans-identified men have sent violent threats to women but the likes of Beth Douglas (attached) now receive double protection from Yousaf: for his so-called gender identity, and for also being, in the eyes of the Scottish government, a woman,&#8221; she added.

Scottish Daily Politics 2024

Scotland’s Proposed Misogyny Law Will Protect Men Pretending To Be Women, First Minister Says

Scotland's Proposed Misogyny Law Will Protect Men Pretending To Be Women, First Minister Says

Gender Identity

gender ideology

Global Politics

J.K. Rowling

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf is a vocal proponent of his nation&#8217;s new hate crime law — which has placed &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; author <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jk-rowling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.K. Rowling</a> in the crosshairs — but that didn&#8217;t stop citizens from using its provisions to report him for hate speech.
According to the BBC, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-68721208" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thousands of complaints</a> had been made under the new law&#8217;s provisions — namely one aimed to stop people from &#8220;stirring up hatred&#8221; based on certain protected classes — within hours of it taking effect. The news outlet also reported that a large number of the complaints were against Yousaf himself, mostly relating to a 2020 speech he gave while serving as Justice Secretary.
In that speech, Yousaf complained about the number of white leaders across the nation of Scotland and advocated for more diversity in leadership roles — but he did so in a fashion that was widely criticized as &#8220;racist&#8221; and &#8220;anti-white.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf described <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jk_rowling</a>’s tweets as “offensive and upsetting.”
Scotland passed a “hate speech” bill and on the first day received over 4,000 complaints. 
The majority of them were reportedly about Humza’s anti-white racist comments.
Is this… <a href="https://t.co/86my178ffT">pic.twitter.com/86my178ffT</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1775888412798517472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Scottish police responded to the large number of complaints, telling the BBC that they had already looked into Yousaf&#8217;s comments back in 2020 and had determined that there was nothing criminal about what he said. They also confirmed that the new law would not be implemented retroactively.
Community Safety Siobhian Brown weighed in on the complaints that overwhelmed police in the early hours of the law&#8217;s implementation, worrying that a good portion of them could be classified as &#8220;fake and vexatious.&#8221;
Brown blamed &#8220;misinformation&#8221; for the influx, but said that police were equipped to deal with the situation. She went on to reassure the public that there would be a high standard set for what would actually be considered criminal: &#8220;We&#8217;ve been very clear within the act this is not about restricting freedom of expression, it is to protect.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
According to Brown, the statement must &#8220;be threatening or abusive with the intent to a stir up hatred towards an individual&#8221; to the point that it causes the person to fear for his or her safety.
A number of complaints were also directed at Rowling, who openly criticized the law and said that she would not comply if told she must refer to trans-identifying men as &#8220;women.&#8221;
She doubled down on April 1, even as the law went into effect, and laid out a series of posts labeling trans-identifying men as men — prompting a public complaint from Yousaf calling her words &#8220;offensive and upsetting.&#8221;
Rowling fired right back via X, saying, &#8220;Most of Scotland is upset and offended by Yousaf&#8217;s bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism, but we aren&#8217;t lobbying to have him locked up for it.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Most of Scotland is upset and offended by Yousaf’s bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism, but we aren’t lobbying to have him locked up for it. <a href="https://t.co/dTXKXORlGp">https://t.co/dTXKXORlGp</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1775886785849045478?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Scottish First Minister Defends Hate Crime Law. Citizens Use It To Report Him.

Harry Potter

Hate Crime

Hate Speech

JK Rowling

Racism

Social Issues

Bad ideas that start in Europe eventually end up in the United States. The most recent bad idea in Europe is that hate speech should be criminalized.
The European Union has pushed this, and now, Scotland is pushing it. Scotland has a brand new hate crime law which has come into force.
The BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51j64lk2l8o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on this, saying:
<blockquote>The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 creates a new crime of &#8220;stirring up hatred&#8221; relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex. &#8230; The maximum penalty under the new act in Scotland is a jail sentence of seven years. A person commits an offence if they communicate material, or behave in a manner, &#8220;that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive,&#8221; with the intention of stirring up hatred based on protected characteristics.</blockquote>
The claim of the Scottish government is that this does not infringe on free speech because Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects ideas that offend, shock, or disturb.
Proponents of the law <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-68703684" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a>, “You have to be really threatening and really abusive, and there has to be a reasonable assumption from others that that is the case.”
The problem is that when it comes to things like gender identity, the entire case advocates make for transgender nonsense is that simply saying “a man is not a woman” is not only harassment, but deadly harassment. It is a threat, a form of abuse, because that transgender person is going to kill themselves if that person is called by their original sex or their original name.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1938-why-cultural-christianity-isn-t-enough-member-exclusive">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
This is obviously incredibly dangerous. The fact that Scotland has gone forth in this manner is astonishing.
The oversensitivity and desire for victimhood is so strong these days that, obviously, anybody could use this law and file a police report.
And that is the problem: All of this becomes discretionary when a law or the terms of a law are so broadly defined that they are basically at the discretion of the government. You have no protections in terms of rights at all.
Why should we be worried about this coming across the border to the United States? After all, we have a First Amendment, don&#8217;t we?
The answer is that if there were a Left-wing majority on the Supreme Court, there is very little doubt that “anti-discrimination” law, which applies in a wide variety of jurisdictions across the United States, would be applied to crack down on free speech.
It would not be considered free speech to engage in “discrimination” in a place of business. And by “discrimination,” that might mean you said a man was a man. That would be verboten under anti-discrimination law in places like New York and California.
The Supreme Court currently has a majority of conservatives. But if there were an activist Supreme Court Left-wing majority, they would undoubtedly curb the First Amendment so as to mirror the law in places not only like Scotland, but also in places like Canada. The entire West has decided the First Amendment and free speech principles not only are in play, but absolutely should also be thrown out in favor of the sensitivities of “victimized groups.”
All of this is the wages of a new paganism, of a new pagan ideology, that has decided basic Western values — like free speech, freedom of religion, property rights, all things the West has been characterized by for centuries — are inherently bad and discriminatory, and that pagan ideology has gained root.
Why? Because free speech and freedom of religion are rooted originally in Judeo-Christian values. The idea of freedom of religion is rooted in the Peace of Westphalia, which arose from conflict between Protestants and Roman Catholics during the Thirty Years’ War. The idea of freedom of speech is an Enlightenment concept that relies on the idea of freedom of mind, which is reliant on a notion that as human beings, we have a core obligation to seek a higher truth.
That core obligation to seek a higher truth requires us to have discussions with one another, to investigate and to pursue. That is a religious concept, and all of these things are outgrowths of Judeo-Christianity.
The problem is that the West has cut itself off from the roots of its own ideology. A philosopher named Will Herberg wrote about Judaism (and his words also apply to Christianity) in a book titled, “Judaism and Modern Man.” This is what <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/690247-the-attempt-made-in-recent-decades-by-secularist-thinkers-to">he wrote</a>:
<blockquote>The attempt made in recent decades by secularist thinkers to disengage the moral principles of Western civilization from their scripturally based religious context, in the assurance that they could live a life of their own as &#8220;humanistic&#8221; ethics, has resulted in our &#8220;cut flower culture.&#8221; Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now-severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die.
So with freedom, brotherhood, justice, and personal dignity — the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality.</blockquote>
This is exactly right. We live in a cut-flower culture. We live in a culture that is living off of the exhaust of the fumes that are left in the tank from millennia of Christian civilization, and before that, Judaic civilization.
As we have cut ourselves off from those roots, we are flowers that are still in the vase, but the flowers are withering.
And they are withering quite quickly.

Demonstrators Rally Outside Holyrood Against SNP’s Hate Crime Bill

The West Is Becoming A Cut-Flower Culture As Its Principles Wither Away

Ben Shapiro

Christianity

Judaism

Opinion

If you were running the government of Scotland right now, you&#8217;d have no shortage of serious, potentially civilization-ending social problems to contend with. Chief among them would be that, before long, there might not be very many Scottish people left.
Since 2011, Scotland&#8217;s <a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022-results/scotland-s-census-2022-rounded-population-estimates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">birth rate</a> has been well below replacement level, meaning far more people are dying than being born. There were more than 630,000 deaths, and only 580,000 or so births. And yet, despite those numbers, Scotland <a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022-results/scotland-s-census-2022-rounded-population-estimates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded</a> its largest population in history as recently as 2022.
How could that be? You can probably guess. 
Like many other nations all over the world, including the United States, Scotland is importing boatloads of poor foreigners to make up the difference. The result has been exactly what you&#8217;d expect. Scotland&#8217;s economy is now in a death spiral, with more than one million of its five-and-a-half million residents <a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/poverty-in-scotland-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">living</a> in poverty and no clear solution to the problem. The number of people aged 65 and over is projected to grow by nearly 30% by 2045, while the number of children is projected to drop by roughly 20%. Unless something changes very soon, Scotland may be completely unrecognizable by the time its next census rolls around.
In political terms, this is what&#8217;s commonly called an &#8220;existential threat.&#8221; A serious country would enact policies to reverse this trend immediately, starting with turning away the so-called refugees and migrants that Scotland can&#8217;t tolerate, much less accommodate. But Scotland has decided on a very different course of action. Instead of, say, encouraging more Scottish citizens to have families, the government of Scotland has decided to suspend the right of freedom of speech. And they&#8217;ve suspended the freedom of speech with the express purpose of endorsing and protecting transgenderism — an ideology that&#8217;s antithetical to reproduction, and which openly calls for the sterilization and castration of children.
This is precisely the sort of thing that self-loathing societies do when they decide they don&#8217;t want to exist anymore. It&#8217;s the path Scotland is on and, as I&#8217;ll explain in a second, it&#8217;s exactly the same plan our leaders are following in this country.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1338-the-matt-walsh-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
The specific law I&#8217;m talking about is called the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/14/section/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hate Crime and Public Order Act</a>, and Scotland formally enacted it on Monday. It <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/14/section/4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criminalizes</a> the act of , &#8220;behav[ing] in a manner that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive,&#8221; if in doing so, &#8220;the person intends to stir up hatred against a group of persons&#8221; based on one of the following characteristics: &#8220;age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, or variations in sex characteristics.&#8221;
Anyone found guilty under this law can be sentenced to prison for up to seven years. Let me restate that: If you say something that a &#8220;reasonable person&#8221; in Scotland considers abusive, then the government can throw you in prison for seven years.
There are sites springing up all over Scotland where you can report wrong-think if you notice it, including, for some reason, sex shops in Glasgow. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Scotland Hate Speech Laws" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bWu6PLgawvs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
Of course it&#8217;s a woman with big glasses defending this transgender &#8220;hate crimes&#8221; legislation. She reassures us that &#8220;freedom of expression&#8221; is &#8220;really important,&#8221; except when it&#8217;s &#8220;abusive.&#8221; But who defines what&#8217;s abusive? The bill doesn&#8217;t say. I checked. The only limiting principle is that this legislation says it doesn&#8217;t outlaw &#8220;discussion or criticism,&#8221; whatever that means. But once discussion or criticism becomes &#8220;abusive,&#8221; according to &#8220;reasonable people,&#8221; then it&#8217;s a serious crime and you&#8217;ll spend the better part of a decade in prison.
The problem is that, by the bill&#8217;s own terms, the people determining what&#8217;s &#8220;reasonable&#8221; and what&#8217;s &#8220;hateful&#8221; are people who believe that biology isn&#8217;t real.
The whole bill is established with the express understanding that it&#8217;s &#8220;reasonable,&#8221; by default, to believe that anyone can change their gender in an instant. That is what the bill is saying is the reasonable position. It literally says that &#8220;transgender identity&#8221; is something the law needs to recognize and protect. And as we&#8217;ve seen, trans activists are willing to cry about &#8220;genocide&#8221; if you use a pronoun they don&#8217;t like. These are the “reasonable” people who get to set the boundaries of what&#8217;s &#8220;abusive&#8221; and what&#8217;s not.
In effect, what this means is that the truth has just been outlawed in Scotland.
Tell the truth about transgenderism, and you can go to prison for longer than a serial rapist. That&#8217;s not an exaggeration, by the way. Late last year, a man who <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/rapist-given-lighter-sentence-due-to-immaturity-at-time-of-assaults-13012994#:~:text=A%20teenage%20rapist%20has%20been,15%2Dyear%2Dold%20girl." target="_blank" rel="noopener">raped</a> three schoolgirls — ages 14 and 15 — in the Scottish town of Falkirk received a sentence of just six years in prison. If he had &#8220;misgendered&#8221; them instead, he&#8217;d have gotten a tougher sentence.
To be clear, this isn&#8217;t insanity, although that&#8217;s certainly what it looks like. It is, instead, a declaration of war by the government of Scotland against its own people. At every turn, they are working towards the destruction of future generations. And now they&#8217;re making it illegal to talk about it.
As a result, there is now a non-zero chance that bestselling children&#8217;s author J.K. Rowling could soon be arrested. When this law took effect, Rowling posted a lengthy <a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1774747068944265615?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thread</a> on social media, listing various men who identify as women in the UK — including men who have raped small children.
&#8220;Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren&#8217;t women at all, but men, every last one of them,&#8221; Rowling <a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1774749954629652873?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote.</a> She continued: &#8220;In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls. &#8230; It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women’s and girls’ rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man. Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal. I&#8217;m currently out of the country, but if what I&#8217;ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.&#8221;
Already, as you&#8217;ve probably guessed, many people in the UK are calling for Rowling&#8217;s arrest. A lawyer named Rajan Barot, for example, <a href="https://x.com/RajanBarot24/status/1774846191764652523?s=20">wrote</a> that Rowling had engaged in a &#8220;deliberate act of defiance,&#8221; and that the police &#8220;must mount a full investigation.&#8221; And by the letter of the law that was just enacted in Scotland, the police are obligated to do that. For offending the cult of transgenderism, J.K. Rowling could soon be imprisoned for up to seven years.
This is the new definition of blasphemy in the UK. Transgenderism is the new state religion. And just to underscore that point even further, this same law — this same Hate Crimes bill that bans anyone from criticizing transgenderism — also repeals the <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/factsheet/2020/04/hate-crime-bill-what-it-will-do/documents/hate-crime-bill-information-note-blasphemy/hate-crime-bill-information-note-blasphemy/govscot%3Adocument/Hate%2BCrime%2BBill%2B-%2BInformation%2BNote%2BPdf%2B-%2BBlasphemy%2B-%2BRevised%2BAugust%2B2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">existing blasphemy law</a> on the books in Scotland. That had been in effect since the common law was created, but it&#8217;s gone now. Again, I&#8217;m not exaggerating for effect here.
This is literally a line from the same bill: &#8220;The common law offence of blasphemy is abolished.&#8221; And really, it makes sense. After all, you have to destroy the old religion to enact the new one. The Scottish government understands that as well as Mao did. They understand it as well as Joe Biden&#8217;s administration did on Easter Sunday.
But this is not a story about the internal affairs of Scotland. What&#8217;s happening in Scotland is not some kind of aberrant, overly extremist application of Leftist doctrine, rather, it&#8217;s the logical end result. When you value feelings over truth, and define untruth as truth, what follows next is inevitable.
Anyone who really believes that men can become women, and that affirming biological reality is tantamount to genocide, is eventually going to throw you in prison. That&#8217;s why they use terms like &#8220;genocide.&#8221; It&#8217;s not to accurately describe what you&#8217;re doing, it&#8217;s to justify destroying your life by force, through any means necessary.
You might be thinking to yourself — “Well, that can&#8217;t happen here, at least not to the extent it&#8217;s happening in a place like Scotland. After all, we have a much more robust Constitution here, and our First Amendment protects the freedom of speech from government interference. And surely, if the government explicitly said it was going to target people for their speech in this country, and then ruined them, then there&#8217;d be a major outcry over it.” If you thought that, however, you&#8217;d be wrong.
The attorney general of New York, Letitia James, is of course best known for her campaign to seize all of the assets of the leading presidential candidate. What she&#8217;s not so well known for is her campaign to target the website VDARE, explicitly because of its inconvenient and unpopular beliefs. This is a story that&#8217;s gotten very little attention in conservative media, but it&#8217;s every bit as scandalous as what Letitia James is doing to Donald Trump.
Shortly after she took office, as <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/05/24/experts-vdares-real-estate-deals-may-cost-group-nonprofit-status" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by the fringe Left-wing activist group Southern Poverty Law Center, Letitia James promised to target conservative and Right-wing organizations based on their speech: &#8220;In 2020, James said her office would take tougher legal action on organizations that engage in real-life discriminatory actions and online hate speech against protected classes.&#8221;
It&#8217;s an astonishing statement because there is no such thing as &#8220;online hate speech&#8221; in this country. We&#8217;re not Scotland, at least not yet. That&#8217;s the point of the First Amendment. But Letitia James just admitted, out in the open, that she was going to ignore the First Amendment, and go after people saying things online that she didn&#8217;t like. And that&#8217;s exactly what she&#8217;s done.
Over the weekend, VDARE <a href="https://vdare.com/articles/it-is-finished-nyag-letitia-james-crucifies-vdare-com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a> that the New York attorney general&#8217;s office has ruined them financially with a subpoena that requires them to, &#8220;review 40 gigabytes of emails, an enormous amount. .. And of course these [emails] could in fact reveal the names of those pseudonymous writers, as well as our donors, privileged communications with lawyers, etc.&#8221; In all, VDARE says the subpoena could cost more than $150,000 to comply with, and as a result, the website may not be around for very much longer.
All of this is happening without VDARE being accused of any criminal activity whatsoever. There&#8217;s apparently just a suspicion of a possible violation of New York&#8217;s nonprofit rules, relating to their purchase of a castle as a conference venue several years ago. (Which they needed to purchase, because hotels wouldn&#8217;t let them host conferences there). But the New York AG&#8217;s office isn&#8217;t being very specific about what the problem is, so we&#8217;re really speculating about the specifics.
And as VDARE&#8217;s Lydia Brimelow said in a recent interview, New York really doesn&#8217;t have anything to do with VDARE, so their whole fixation with the organization is a little strange. In fact, VDARE has been trying to leave the state behind for a while now. The castle property that&#8217;s at issue is in West Virginia. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Lawfare Against Normal People" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ixmsl9zYQFI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
So VDARE is being chased around by a vindictive attorney general for an out-of-state property they bought. I&#8217;m no expert on the facts of the case, but at a glance, what VDARE is apparently being investigated for is somewhat similar to what BLM has admitted to doing.
We know BLM spent a lot of money buying multiple lavish mansions — not just one conference venue. But BLM was never subjected to any kind of investigation. They never had the New York attorney general, or any other attorney general, bombard them with subpoenas. And we know why that is. It&#8217;s because BLM is on Letitia James&#8217; side. VDARE isn&#8217;t. VDARE likes to talk about things like crime statistics, and what happens in cities like Baltimore. So therefore, like Donald Trump, they need to be crushed. Every real-estate transaction they&#8217;ve ever engaged in needs to be carefully scrutinized until they&#8217;re broke.
Suddenly Scotland&#8217;s decision to suspend freedom of speech doesn&#8217;t seem so unthinkable here. If Letitia James can get away with targeting a Right-wing media outlet like this, while admitting it, then we&#8217;re basically there already.
If anything, we could learn from what&#8217;s happening in Scotland. At least they have someone like J.K. Rowling who is willing to go to jail over what Scotland&#8217;s government is doing. Is there anyone in this country who&#8217;s even suggested sacrificing anything for a site like VDARE? Of course not. They have unfashionable views. So they won&#8217;t be around much longer. Inevitably, that means the people who decide what&#8217;s &#8220;unfashionable&#8221; will be coming for you, too.

Scotland Makes It Illegal To Hurt A Trans Person’s Feelings

Scotland Makes It Illegal To Hurt A Trans Person's Feelings

Letitia James

Matt Walsh

New York

Prison

Just one day after Scotland&#8217;s new Hate Crime Act took effect, police announced that they would not pursue criminal charges against &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; author <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jk-rowling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.K. Rowling</a> under its provisions.
The law creates a new crime of &#8220;stirring up hatred,&#8221; particularly with regard to certain protected classes and designations — and there were many who believed Rowling might come under scrutiny for X posts standing up for biological women&#8217;s spaces and refusing to refer to trans-identifying men as &#8220;women.&#8221;
&#8220;The force said complaints had been received but no action would be taken,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-68712471" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC reported</a> with regard to Rowling and the new law.
The author responded to the news via X, saying, &#8220;I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women — irrespective of profile or financial means — will be treated equally under the law.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women &#8211; irrespective of profile or financial means &#8211; will be treated equally under the law.<a href="https://t.co/CsgehF2a5d">https://t.co/CsgehF2a5d</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1775187763995824350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rowling had previously thumbed her nose at the new law — promising to defy it herself and to proudly stand alongside any other woman who did the same — saying that she would not allow the truth to be censored in an effort to spare the feelings of biological males who wanted to usurp women&#8217;s roles and spaces.
&#8220;If you genuinely imagine I’d delete posts calling a man a man, so as not to be prosecuted under this ludicrous law, stand by for the mother of all April Fools’ jokes,&#8221; she said to one critic who advised she delete posts referring to trans-identifying men as men.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If you genuinely imagine I’d delete posts calling a man a man, so as not to be prosecuted under this ludicrous law, stand by for the mother of all April Fools’ jokes. <a href="https://t.co/ZVZQ6CV47p">pic.twitter.com/ZVZQ6CV47p</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1769412494353678400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rowling made good on her April Fools Day promise, sharing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-look-forward-to-being-arrested-jk-rowling-torches-scotlands-new-hate-crime-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thread that showcased</a> some of the worst male offenders who would be protected — at the expense of biological women — under the new law.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Scotland&#39;s Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category. Phew! 1/11 <a href="https://t.co/gCKGwdjr5m">pic.twitter.com/gCKGwdjr5m</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774747068944265615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls,&#8221; the author concluded. &#8220;I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.&#8221;

2019 RFK Ripple of Hope Awards

Scottish Cops Say J.K. Rowling’s Tweets Aren’t Considered Criminal Under New Law

Scottish Cops Say J.K. Rowling's Tweets Aren't Considered Criminal Under New Law

Women who are critical of gender ideology are slamming Scotland&#8217;s new hate speech law, saying it restricts them from voicing their views on biological sex.
The new <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2024/82/contents/made" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a>, the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, went into effect on Monday. The measure criminalizes &#8220;stirring up hatred&#8221; relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, or being intersex.
The maximum penalty for violations is seven years in jail.
Critics quickly spoke out against the law, saying it risks jailing people for voicing their sincerely held opinions, particularly those critical of gender ideology.
Under the law, a person may not communicate material or behave in a way that &#8220;a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive&#8221; with the intention of stirring up hatred based on the newly protected characteristics.
Racially-based hatred was already outlawed in Scotland, but the new law adds more protected categories.
Many voiced their opposition to the law on social media, posting under the hashtags #FactIsNotHate and #WomenWontWheesht — &#8220;wheesht&#8221; meaning &#8220;hush&#8221; in Scotland.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Women have been out and about in Scotland with our Hate Crime posters. Women&#39;s Rights Are Not A Hate Crime. Here&#39;s some fabulous women <a href="https://twitter.com/ff_scotland?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ff_scotland</a> Alloa Festival. We will not be silenced!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FactIsNotHate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FactIsNotHate</a> <a href="https://t.co/pIsWO2pesD">pic.twitter.com/pIsWO2pesD</a>
&mdash; WRN Scotland (@WRNScotland) <a href="https://twitter.com/WRNScotland/status/1774696700923256964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I will not lie. I will not betray women. Our rights matter. We are defiant. We will not be silent. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FactIsNotHate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FactIsNotHate</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TruthIsNotACrime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TruthIsNotACrime</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FactIsNotACrime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FactIsNotACrime</a> <a href="https://t.co/KsjUCDDrEZ">pic.twitter.com/KsjUCDDrEZ</a>
&mdash; Cathy Larkman 💚🤍 💜🦢🏃‍♀️ (@JackMerched) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackMerched/status/1774581852562423931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We’ll be continuing to go about our lives speaking the truth. We won’t be silenced by the Hate Crime Bill ✊✊✊<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TruthIsNotACrime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TruthIsNotACrime</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FactIsNotHate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FactIsNotHate</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FactIsNotACrime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FactIsNotACrime</a> <a href="https://t.co/kRNMHwHDKE">pic.twitter.com/kRNMHwHDKE</a>
&mdash; GTF Glasgow Tactical Feminists (@GTFGla) <a href="https://twitter.com/GTFGla/status/1774689482798694786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
&#8220;I will not lie. I will not betray women. Our rights matter. We are defiant. We will not be silent,&#8221; wrote one social media user on X.
&#8220;A Woman is an Adult Human Female,&#8221; another <a href="https://twitter.com/Your_mums_aTerf/status/1774578740023939220" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a>. &#8220;The law can not protect what it can not define. My son claims he&#8217;s a woman, he is not. It is my protected belief humans can not change sex.&#8221;
&#8220;Men are not women. Will this statement now result in arrest in Scotland? Indefinite seizure of devices? Hate crime incidents secretly recorded? A dystopian nightmare, brought about in the name of &#8216;inclusion&#8217;. Shame on you #Scotland,&#8221; another user <a href="https://twitter.com/brandubh4/status/1774585540752318872" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a>.
Some X users tagged the Scottish police in their posts.
Author J.K. Rowling <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774747068944265615">challenged</a> police to arrest her over her posts criticizing gender ideology.
&#8220;Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal,&#8221; Rowling posted Monday on X, adding that, &#8220;if what I&#8217;ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Rowling added that Scottish lawmakers &#8220;seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls.&#8221;
She said the new legislation is &#8220;wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence&#8221; women who criticize gender ideology.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🎉🌼🌸April Fools! 🌸🌼🎉
Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren&#39;t women at all, but men, every last one of them.
In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their…
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774749954629652873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Elon Musk criticized the law as well.
&#8220;An example of why it is so important to preserve freedom of speech,&#8221; Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1770032208662663278" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> earlier this month on X in response to another post discussing the law.

People holding transgender flags

Women Gender Ideology Critics Protest Scotland’s Hate Crime Act

Women Gender Ideology Critics Protest Scotland's Hate Crime Act

Free Speech

J.K. Rowling responded on Monday to the enactment of Scotland&#8217;s new Hate Crime Act, delivering a brutal X thread showing just who such laws would protect.
The author, making good on a promise to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/j-k-rowling-delivers-hilarious-translation-of-woke-trans-allys-x-post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deliver the goods</a> on April Fool&#8217;s Day, laid out a list of biologically male criminal sex offenders, most of whom preyed on young women and girls — and without violating the new law by &#8220;misgendering&#8221; a single one, she painted a disastrous picture of the consequences she says such &#8220;hate crime&#8221; laws could have on female victims.
&#8220;Scotland&#8217;s Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category. Phew!&#8221; Rowling began, sharing screenshots of Douglas posing with weapons while issuing threats to an &#8220;anti-trans&#8221; company.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Scotland&#39;s Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category. Phew! 1/11 <a href="https://t.co/gCKGwdjr5m">pic.twitter.com/gCKGwdjr5m</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774747068944265615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Lovely Scottish lass and convicted double rapist Isla Bryson found her true authentic female self shortly before she was due to be sentenced,&#8221; Rowling continued in mocking tones. &#8220;Misgendering is hate, so respect Isla’s pronouns, please. Love the leggings!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Fragile flower Katie Dolatowski, 6&#39;5&quot;, was rightly sent to a women&#39;s prison in Scotland after conviction. This ensured she was protected from violent, predatory men (unlike the 10-year-old girl Katie sexually assaulted in a women&#39;s public bathroom.) 3/11 <a href="https://t.co/13J5XfRo3a">pic.twitter.com/13J5XfRo3a</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774748047815135286?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Fragile flower Katie Dolatowski, 6&#8217;5&#8243;, was rightly sent to a women&#8217;s prison in Scotland after conviction. This ensured she was protected from violent, predatory men (unlike the 10-year-old girl Katie sexually assaulted in a women&#8217;s public bathroom),&#8221; Rowling&#8217;s next post read.
&#8220;Samantha Norris was cleared of exposing her penis to two 11-year-old girls. Hooray!&#8221; The &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; author continued. &#8220;Unfortunately she was then convicted for possession of 16,000 images of children being raped and sexually assaulted. Be that as it may, Sam’s still a lady to me! &#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Scottish woman and butcher Amy George abducted an 11-year-old girl while dressed in female clothing. No idea why this was mentioned in court – of course she was wearing women’s clothing, she&#39;s a woman! Amy took the girl home and sexually abused her over a 27-hour period. 5/11 <a href="https://t.co/xy3DmnqZrc">pic.twitter.com/xy3DmnqZrc</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774748992317882717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Scottish woman and butcher Amy George abducted an 11-year-old girl while dressed in female clothing. No idea why this was mentioned in court – of course she was wearing women’s clothing, she&#8217;s a woman! Amy took the girl home and sexually abused her over a 27-hour period,&#8221; Rowling added.
&#8220;But most women aren’t axe-toters or sex offenders, so let’s talk role models! Guilia Valentino (in red) wanted to play on the women&#8217;s team &#8216;because of sisterhood, validation and political visibility,'&#8221; Rowling said, adding a post on biological males taking over women&#8217;s spaces for political and cultural attention. &#8220;Naturally, she was given some boring cis girl’s place. Yay for inclusion!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Mridul Wadhwa, head of a Scottish rape crisis centre, says, ‘sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well.’ She has no gender recognition certificate, but was still appointed to a job advertised for women only. Time to be ‘challenged on your prejudices’, rape victims! 7/11 <a href="https://t.co/YfxUhbh6cw">pic.twitter.com/YfxUhbh6cw</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774749262934356448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rowling also addressed the trauma that she says victims might experience in being forced to allow biological males into spaces that were designed specifically to protect victims from further abuse.
&#8220;Mridul Wadhwa, head of a Scottish rape crisis centre, says, ‘sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well.’ She has no gender recognition certificate, but was still appointed to a job advertised for women only. Time to be ‘challenged on your prejudices’, rape victims!&#8221; Rowling said.
Rowling rounded out the thread with several political and cultural leaders who espoused a platform of protecting women and women&#8217;s rights but could not define what a woman was.
&#8220;Munroe Bergdorf isn’t just a pretty face! Public campaigner for a children’s charity until safeguarding concerns were raised, she was appointed UN Women’s first ever UK champion. ‘What makes a woman “a woman” has no definitive answer,’ says Munroe. Great choice, UN Women!&#8221; Rowling cracked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Katie Neeves has been appointed as the UN Women UK delegate. She switched from straight man to lesbian at the age of 48 and, in a leaked 2022 webinar, described how she used to enjoy stealing and wearing her sister’s underwear. A truly relatable representative! 9/11 <a href="https://t.co/VKzF7IuJTU">pic.twitter.com/VKzF7IuJTU</a>
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774749594926076218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Katie Neeves has been appointed as the UN Women UK delegate. She switched from straight man to lesbian at the age of 48 and, in a leaked 2022 webinar, described how she used to enjoy stealing and wearing her sister’s underwear,&#8221; the author mocked. &#8220;A truly relatable representative!&#8221;
&#8220;Last, but least, TV’s India Willoughby proves we women can call a black broadcaster a ‘nasty bitch’ who ‘wouldn’t be anywhere without woke,’ dub lesbians men, insult the looks of a female Olympic swimmer, ‘joke’ about kidnapping feminists, and STILL get airtime! What a gal!&#8221; Rowling concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🎉🌼🌸April Fools! 🌸🌼🎉
Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren&#39;t women at all, but men, every last one of them.
In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their…
&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1774749954629652873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But then the author delivered the punch line: &#8220;April Fools!&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
&#8220;Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren&#8217;t women at all, but men, every last one of them,&#8221; Rowling declared. &#8220;In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls.&#8221;
Rowling then made it clear that she was not afraid of any possible repercussions she might face from speaking out against the new law.
&#8220;I&#8217;m currently out of the country, but if what I&#8217;ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment,&#8221; the author concluded.

‘I Look Forward To Being Arrested’: JK Rowling Torches Scotland’s New ‘Hate Crime’ Law

JK Rowling Torches Scotland's New ‘Hate Crime’ Law In Brutal Thread

Celebrities

Women's Rights

In 16th century Scotland, it was easy to deal with problematic women.
Nearly 2,500 people were tried and mostly executed for “witchcraft.” Their crime? Largely, they were mouthy, opinionated, a bit odd, or disliked.
If “witch!” didn’t stick, “heretic!” would do the trick, under Scotland’s then pervasive anti-blasphemy laws.
“Othering” those of minority beliefs made them easy to hang.
With the spread of liberal democracy, Scotland’s witch trials went defunct. We thought we had learned tolerance. But on April 1 of this year, a new “blasphemy” law will come into effect – set to punish modern “heretics” who blaspheme against today’s dominant societal beliefs.
The “<a href="https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/hate-crime-and-public-order-scotland-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hate Speech and Public Order Act</a>” introduces a new offense of “stirring up hatred” on the basis of, inter alia, transgender identity.
Nobody likes to feel hated. But the government has failed to adequately define which speech is actually banned, leaving citizens open to prosecution for saying anything the state deems unacceptable — or that any given individual decides is offensive.
There are no private places beyond the state’s listening ears — the law applies even to dinner table discussions in the family home, and can be enforced if your children decide to report you for voicing your (un)orthodox beliefs.
The cost of “free speech” is at an all-time high.
Up to seven years behind bars await our new heretics.
And the mob already has their eyes set on a target, pitchforks sharpened. A wise and wizardly woman with decidedly problematic, public views about pronouns: J.K. Rowling.
In anticipation of the law’s launch on April 1, activists are in frenzied <a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1769412494353678400?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anticipation</a> of bringing our most successful author down.
Having commentated on social media about the need to protect single-sexed prison cells, rape shelters and changing rooms, the world-renowned Scot put a target on her back to be hunted by the puritans of the Church of Woke.
Threats abound to report her to the police unless she succumbs to pressure to change her pronoun usage on “X.” The witch hunt has begun.
Of course, crying “witch” has gone out of fashion. In fact, in 2022, Scotland’s leader issued an official state <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/08/nicola-sturgeon-issues-apology-for-historical-injustice-of-witch-hunts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apology</a> for the ‘historical injustice’ of witch hunts. But name-calling the enemy is too successful a technique to stop.
And so the Scottish authorities have slapped a new name on an old story, and this week launched an infantilizing <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13198995/Police-face-ridicule-ludicrous-Hate-Monster-campaign.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">campaign</a> to support their new law. Beware: “The hate monster”!
The campaign, backed with public money, warns us against “the feeling some people get when they are frustrated and angry and take it out on others, because they feel like they need to show they are better than them’ — ‘in other words, they ­commit a hate crime.”
Young, white, working-class men are the most likely to succumb to “the hate monster,” we’re told, in a prejudicial jibe at a disadvantaged demographic. Holding alternative beliefs to those of the wealthy elite doth not make man “monster.”
Expressing anger is not, in itself, a crime. Rowling hasn’t even expressed anger. She’s merely spoken truthfully about biological reality. She may not be a working-class male. But she has reason to worry nonetheless.
Where hate speech laws have been enforced around the world, citizens have been prosecuted for tweets of a similarly cordial tone. In Finland, a parliamentarian and grandmother underwent a <a href="https://adfinternational.org/en-gb/portfolio/free-speech-on-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criminal trial</a> for a Bible verse tweet that questioned her Church’s sponsorship of a pride event.
In Mexico, <a href="https://adfinternational.org/news/mexican-civil-society-leader-found-guilty-of-gender-based-political-violence-for-tweets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two</a> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/human-rights-group-demands-response-mexican-government-lawmaker-charged-political-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">politicians</a> from differing parties have both been convicted of “gender based political violence” and placed on an offenders’ register, simply for upholding their beliefs about gender and pronouns on Musk’s platform.
There’s nothing to stop Scotland’s hate crime law from doing the same thing — either to J.K. Rowling; or to another citizen with less money and influence to withstand the pressure.
The author of the wizarding world could be at the center of her own next witchy tale.
The Scottish government should take heed. Jailing citizens for having the “wrong” opinions — whether a working-class male or billionaire female — has never fallen on the right side of history.
* * *
Lois McLatchie Miller is Senior Legal Communications Officer for Alliance Defending Freedom UK. Follow her: @LoisMcLatch
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Scotland’s New Blasphemy Law Could Put J.K. Rowling In Jail

Scotland's New Blasphemy Law Could Put J.K. Rowling In Jail

Europe

Great Britain

Menu