LGBTQ+ literary prize paused after it longlisted a transphobic author – and got the appropriate backlash

An award for LGBTQ+ authors has been getting a lot of attention recently, but for all the wrong reasons. The Polari Prize is an annual prize showcasing the work of queer writers, it is the only one of it’s kind is the UK. There are three awards: the Polari First Book Prize, which is exclusively open to debut writers from the UK and Ireland, the Polari Prize for Best Book, and the Polari Children’s & YA Book Prize.

The Polari Prize has been much lauded in both the LGBTQ+ and publishing communities, which is why it’s a shame that this year saw it take a much darker turn, leading to the prize being cancelled.

Polari Prize: promoting a proud terf

At the beginning of August, the longlists for the Polari Prize were announced, and many were shocked and saddened to see John Boyne on the best book longlist for his novel Earth. Boyne is also the author of the revisionist history novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which has been criticised heavily as being Nazi sympathetic. Just four days before the longlist was announced, he wrote a tribute to massive terf JK Rowling on her birthday for the Irish Independent saying he stood “four squared behind her”.

In the article he ripped into people who supported trans rights, he particularly disgustingly laid into cis women, who he claims are “astonishingly complicit in their own erasure”

He said:

For every Commander Waterford, there’s a Serena Joy standing behind him, ready to pin a handmaiden down as her husband rapes her.

Authors taking a stand against transphobia

There was rightfully so outrage to the self-proclaimed TERFs longlisting, 10 of the 12 nominees of the First Book Prize and 6 of his fellow 11 Book of the Year nominees withdrew their nominations, with of two of the judges resigning. A further 800 authors and people in the publishing industry signed an open letter demanding he be removed from the longlist, but Polari held fast.

The only trans author nominated, Avi Ben-Zeev who wrote Calling My Deadname Home, criticised Boyne’s nomination but chose to stay on the list, saying walking away would be like “erasing myself” he told Pink News:

I’m afraid of staying, I’m afraid of the backlash, I’m afraid of the horrible things [people might say]. I’m not staying because I think I’ll get more recognition but I can’t walk away.

Polari cowardice and Boyne’s victimhood

Despite all this, the Polari Prize organisers held fast. In a statement published on 7 August Polari said:

While we do not eliminate books based on the wider views of a writer, we regret the upset and hurt this has caused. Polari is committed to inclusion, not exclusion.

It also stated that Polari “encourage an open dialogue across our community” which is pretty much the same as saying “we heard you all, but don’t care, he’s staying on the list”.

Responding to the backlash Boyne, somewhat stereotypically of terves, played the victim. In a statement posted on Twitter on 14 August, he decided to remind those against his nomination that he was a gay man who had experienced sexual abuse and bullying, writing about these experiences. This is especially vile considering he started this by comparing trans rights allies to women who hold others down to be raped.

In his statement, he made a proposal, stating he had “Shelves full of awards”, and he essentially doesn’t care about winning this one. So basically, if everyone agreed to stop this fuss, he wouldn’t withdraw, but he would graciously ask the judges not to include him in the shortlist. Which, let’s be honest, after all of this, they wouldn’t anyway.

Polari Prize paused

Of course, nobody agreed to this and on 18 August the organisers of the Polari Prize announced that it would be “paused” this year. That’s right, instead of removing one terf (or never even including them in the first place), all of those nominated will lose out. The award, instead of standing by trans people and their allies have shown its cowardice.

In a statement, Polari claims their “commitment to inclusion remains unchanged”

They said:

Polari is not and has never been a trans exclusionary organisation. These are not our values and we condemn all forms of transphobia.

They went on to say:

We will also explore discussions about the tensions between the claims of freedom of expression and the need to create inclusive and supportive spaces in a world hostile to our trans community members and our community at large.

They claim that while the award is paused, they will be looking at increasing trans representation across the prize and undertaking a governance and management review.

However, this may come as too little too late for many in the LGBTQ+ community, who instead of having an organisation that stood up for them, saw one that nominated a man who stood for the ideals that would see many of them excluded from society and even killed.

Featured image via the Canary