J.K. Rowling's comments around a reported Scottish police policy are labeled transphobic by fans and critics

• The Scottish Sun reported that police will record accused rapists as the gender they self-identify.
• J.K. Rowling's comments on the matter led to some fans once again calling the author transphobic.

J.K. Rowling's recent comments on a Scottish police policy are being called transphobic by some of her fans.

In a Sunday tweet, the "Harry Potter" author commented on the policy, which says authorities will record individuals accused of rape as the gender in which they self-identify, according to several reports.

"War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman," Rowling wrote in the Sunday tweet, quoting George Orwell's "1984" with her own addition.

Rowling posted those words with a link to a Sunday Times article titled "'Absurdity' of police logging rapists as women."

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie of Police Scotland said that police would record a person accused of rape, who was "born male but who identifies as a female and does not have a full gender recognition certificate" as a woman, reports The Scottish Sun, which appears to be the first to have reported the news.

The tweet sparked renewed backlash on Twitter, with fans and others saying that it played into Rowling's history of transphobia.

"Queer Eye" star Jonathan Van Ness called Rowling's tweet "transphobic cherry picked vitriol."

—Jonathan Van Ness (@jvn) December 13, 2021

New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale wrote on Twitter, "All women should be safe. This includes transgender women, who are far more likely to be a target of assault than a perpetrator. If a woman commits rape, that is still a crime and reprehensible. Calling a woman a woman won't change that. But amplifying bigotry helps no one."

—Shannon Hale (@haleshannon) December 13, 2021

A representative for Rowling declined to comment.

Rowling has been accused of having "TERF" — "trans-exclusive radical feminist" — viewpoints in the past after defending a woman who lost her job after making transphobic comments about transgender women.

The Scottish author went on to later publish an essay in June 2020 defending her "reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues." She also made the claim that there was an "explosion" of women transitioning and de-transitioning, for which there is no evidence.

In the same essay, Rowling denied she "hates trans people" and instead labeled her interest in trans issues as "intensely personal."

Although Rowling has received support from celebrities, such as Dave Chappelle and John Cleese, the author has drawn continual backlash online in recent years, including from "Harry Potter" stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, for her views on transgender people.

It's extended to a reckoning over her Harry Potter franchise as well, with fans of the series expressing disappointment in Rowling's espousal of transphobic viewpoints.

A January report from The Hollywood Reporter about a Harry Potter television series being in early development prompted some to denounce the series in light of Rowling's prior comments, as Insider previously reported. HBO Max and Warner Bros. told The Hollywood Reporter at the time that there was no Harry Potter series in development, and Rowling's participation was unclear.

An upcoming Harry Potter video game has also drawn backlash from fans saying that they don't want to engage with new material if Rowling stands to benefit from it. Polygon reported that Warner Bros. said Rowling is not "directly involved" with the game.

The author was also trending on Twitter Monday due to her recent comments following the release of a trailer for the upcoming "Fantastic Beasts" film "The Secrets of Dumbledore."