Since 2017, J.K. Rowling has stood against the many injustices that transgender ideology inflicts upon women. As the years have passed, she has spoken out against the ideology with increasing adamancy and growing recognition of its moral bankruptcy. This week, Rowling proved that she has emerged as one of the most fearless and adamant opponents of the ideology.

She promoted the truth that men who attempt to transition to female are not women by repeatedly referring to the broadcaster India Willoughby as a man and using masculine pronouns to describe him. Willoughby has had extensive plastic surgery on his face, pumped himself full of estrogen, and gotten a “vaginoplasty” (which, in essence, butchers a man’s genitalia) in an attempt to resemble a woman. Of course, all that has done nothing to change the reality that Willoughby is a man.

Willoughby ran off crying and screaming to the police. In an interview on Byline TV this week, he declared that he had reported Rowling to the Northumbria Police for her statements. “The mask is off. People historically have given her the benefit of the doubt, hearing that all she is doing is defending women’s rights,” he said. “She can’t argue that anymore now that she’s actually come out and broadly said to me that India Willoughby is a man.” Amusingly, the host of that TV program twice referred to Willoughby as a man.

The U.K. has a shocking lack of free-speech protections, and the Northumbria Police’s reaction to Willoughby’s complaint was likewise concerning. In a statement, it said: “On Monday, March 4, we received a complaint about a post on social media. We are currently awaiting to speak to the complainant further.” Evidently, the department is going to seriously consider the complaint.

Rowling has argued that her speech is protected in the U.K. She pointed to a 2021 employment tribunal ruling that found that researcher Maya Forstater’s gender-critical views were protected under the country’s Equality Act. She also sounded off, saying, “Aware as I am that it’s an offence to lie to law enforcement, I’ll simply have to explain to the police that, in my view, India is a classic example of the male narcissist who lives in a state of perpetual rage that he can’t compel women to take him at his own valuation.”

If U.K. authorities do decide to pursue legal action against one of its greatest writers for speaking the truth, Rowling will willingly go to prison. “I’ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex,” she said last year on X following a report that a Labour government could make “misgendering” a person a criminal offense punishable by up to two years in a prison.

In addition to standing up to Willoughby, this week Rowling expressed support for journalist Michael Shellenberger’s exposé on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH. Shellenberger’s investigation showed that the organization knows its recommended treatments are resulting in serious side effects — up to and including death — and has decided to keep quiet. In addition, he revealed that WPATH’s members know they are not retrieving informed consent for the treatments they are giving, including those to children.

Rowling commented in response to Shellenberger’s investigation: “The #wpathfiles put it beyond doubt that surgeries and drugs of unproven benefit are being given to those who cannot give informed consent. If you’re still cheering this on, you are complicit.”

Her adamant support for Shellenberger’s investigation is a change from her initial attitude toward transgenderism. When Rowling began to speak out against the ideology in 2017, she concentrated solely on the ideology’s efforts to force speech on women and invade women’s privacy in bathrooms, locker rooms, and prisons. She did not at first take issue with transgender medical procedures.

This is exactly what we need more of: people who aren’t afraid to speak up for truth, even when it means they will face significant repercussions for doing so. J.K. Rowling could have coasted on her incredible success and not bothered to jump into a mess that will see her years of backlash and hate. But, instead, she has chosen to speak out for an unpopular truth, and for that we should be grateful.