Perpetuating harmful tropes
Oh good, another fuss. There can never be enough fussing.
The Polari Prize, the UK’s literary award celebrating LGBTQ+ writing, has come under fire following the release of its 2025 longlist, with critics accusing the organisers of platforming a writer labelled by some as a “TERF”.
The horror!!
The controversy centres around the inclusion of John Boyne, author of Earth, on the main Polari Book Prize longlist. Boyne has previously faced criticism for his portrayal of trans characters, particularly in his 2019 novel My Brother’s Name is Jessica.
And mere criticism is not enough, there must be shunning.
The novel, which follows a cisgender boy struggling to accept his sibling’s transition, was widely condemned by trans activists and readers. Critics argued that the story centres cis discomfort rather than trans experience, perpetuating harmful tropes. The title itself was seen as misgendering the protagonist, with one activist stating, “He misgendered the trans person in the title… that reflects a lot on what’s going to be in the book.”
Blah blah blah everything must be written according to our specifications or there will be fuss and shunning and punishment and above all noise.
Social media erupted shortly after the longlist was announced on 6 August, with one user saying: “Trans and nonbinary readers are not going to be safe if you continue to platform TERF authors. That’s it. That’s the bottom line.”
It may be the bottom line, but is it true? Are hordes of people going to make haste to throw heavy objects at trans people because this book is up for a prize?
In a statement published on social media, Polari Prize wrote: “The Polari Prize was founded on the core principles of diversity and inclusion. We are committed to supporting trans rights and amplifying trans voices, as demonstrated both in the history of the prize and the Polari salon, where trans and non-binary writers and performers have featured regularly as valued members of the LGBTQ+ writing community.
Ssssshhhhh – doesn’t matter. You have been Condemned; game over.
Of course it centres ‘cis’ discomfort, you blithering idiots; the book is about the boy’s discomfort.
What did you expect to read? Billy came home early from football practise, walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks, scarcely able to believe what he was seeing. “J..J..Joseph?” he stammered, “w..why are you wearing a dress?” “I’m transgender”, replied his sibling, “and I’m not Joseph any more, I’m Josephine”. ‘Oh!” exclaimed Billy, “That’s cool; I always wanted a sister. Sorry for deadnaming you just now. You look fabulous, by the way”. “Aww, thanks, bro” said Josephine.
The End.
Readers are not going to be safe? Are they going to be injured while reading?
Reading is never “safe.” There’s always a risk of coming across ideas that challenge or upset you, or at the very least make you think for a moment or two. Ideally, that’s what reading is about, and what it’s for. These people will be perfectly safe physically; their delusions, maybe not so much.
What I find especially irritating is that the author is being shunned, not for the book that is up for a prize, but for a totally different book. How dare he write even a single book that the activists dislike; he is no longer allowed to do pretty much anything.
Imagine if someone said:
or
People would laugh at such thin-skinned theists or thin-skinned right-wingers.
Bookseller: “Have you ever been Captain Nemo, tapped inside your submarine while the giant squid is attacking you?”
Bastian: [hesitating] “Yes.”
Bookseller: “Weren’t you afraid you couldn’t escape?”
Bastian: “But it’s only a story!”
Bookseller: “That’s what I’m talking about. The ones you read are safe.”
Ophelia, that’s perfect. Do you have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Peanuts cartoons? ‘cos you posted that eight minutes after my comment.
AoS, no, but I loved that one on sight, 100 or so years ago, and as you say, it’s a perfect fit.
About that other novel — not the one nominated for the prize — the criticism states
The title — “My Brother’s Name Is Jessica” — indicates that the protagonist is NOT the transgender brother. The description supports this interpretation:
You’re so focused on T, that no one but T are allowed to be the protagonists of any stories, amiright?
Anyway, it sounds to me like a brother coming to terms with a transgender sibling is a good thing from the gender advocates’ point of view. It’s about acceptance, inclusion, and love, right? Unless of course the story has the protagonist rejecting the deluded transgender sibling, but somehow I doubt that that’s the story arc.
maddog, the objections to the book are all a part of the delusion that they are what they say they are and that nobody would give two hoots about their transness if the evil terfs didn’t keep stirring up hatred with their ‘harmful’ tropes. They’re just like Jews* in 1930s Europe, doncha know: nobody thought twice about them until Hitler et al started with the nasty tropes.
*Curiously, I don’t see that comparison being made much these days. It’s almost as though they regret likening themselves to history’s most oppressed people – just before the ‘most oppressed’ turned into ‘genocidal monsters’.