Author John Boyne’s longlisting for the gay literary award the Polari Prize has prompted a boycott by several fellow nominees and two judges. Irrespective of the merits of his novella Earth, Boyne’s ‘thoughtcrime’ is that he disagrees with gender ideology.
Anger against the openly gay writer began to build with his ‘transitioning’ novel My Brother’s Name is Jessica (2019), with activists accusing him of “misgendering” the book’s protagonist with the title. More recently, his support for the Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling—whom he says he is “in awe” of—has reignited the social justice warriors’ pile-on against Boyne.
The Polari Prize organisers—led by writer Paul Burston since he founded the award in 2011 and backed by a £64,000 (€74,174) grant from Arts Council England this year—have stood firm on retaining Boyne as a nominee, but apologised for any ‘hurt caused’ and promised to ‘review’ processes around the book award next year (which doesn’t bode well).
Burston himself was heavily criticised for signing an open letter in 2018 saying lobbyist group Stonewall made “mistakes” by “undermining women’s sex-based rights and protections” with its campaigning on transgender issues.
Two years ago, Boyne apologised to Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan after criticising his stance on transgender ideology by issuing a public statement saying, “You were right, I was wrong.”
