Queer Authors Withdraw From Writing Prize En Masse Over Inclusion of Self-Proclaimed TERF
Leading Off: A UK LGBTQ+ writing prize seems to be crumbling as the queer community protests the inclusion of an anti-trans writer on the long list. Trans prisoners in Georgia accuse the state of cruel and unusual punishment. And the US military is reneging on their deal with trans service members. Our top story lines as the week begins.
by Assigned Media
At least 11 authors and 2 judges have withdrawn themselves from two major queer writing prizes. The Polari Prize and the Polari First Book Prize are known as the sole prizes recognizing queer authors in the UK.
The 2025 prizes became mired in controversy after an author and self-proclaimed TERF, John Boyne, was named to the longlist for the Polari Prize. Boyne had recently published a tribute to J. K. Rowling in the Irish Independent in which he proudly stated his support for Rowling’s extreme anti-trans views. Those views include a recent call by Rowling to boycott a department store for employing a tall woman an irate customer believes was trans.
Comments show that the inclusion of Boyne’s book began attracting negative attention soon after the announcement of longlisted writers to the Polari Prize’s Instagram on August 1. This was followed by the withdrawal of Nicola Dinan, one of the judges for the First Book prize. (Dinan is a trans woman writer who won the First Book prize in 2024 for her novel Bellies, which has been highly acclaimed. Her second novel, Disappoint Me, released in May.)
An Instagram post by the Polari Prize account on August 7 addressed the controversy, but only fueled the flames. In it, Polari defended the choice to include Boyne, writing “we can at times hold radically different positions on substantive issues.”
In an August 8 Instagram post announcing her withdrawal, poet Mae Diansangu captured the community response to this, writing, “To nominate a transphobic writer for an LGBT+ award is one thing, but to issue a statement trivialising the disgusting views of this bigot, as if they are just a difference in opinion…well, that's really something. Transphobes do not need to be platformed. They do not deserve accolades. Their views should not be normalised. It really is that simple.”
Diansangu’s first book, Bloodsongs, was among those under consideration for the First Book prize. Jason Okundaye, author of Revolutionary Acts, and Amy Twigg, author of Spoilt Creatures, joined Diansangu, withdrawing their books from consideration that same day.
Several more withdrawals have followed, and may be ongoing. Statements of intent to withdraw were posted to Instagram by Sacha Coward (author of Queer as Folklore) and Sanah Ahsan (author of I Cannot Be Good Until You Say It), each of whom were on the longlist for the Polari First Book prize, as well as Rhian Elizabeth (author of girls, etc), Olumide Popoola (author of Like Water Like Sea), and Robert Hamberger (author of Nude Against a Rock), longlisted for the Polari Prize.
In addition, a second First Book prize judge, Bob Hughes, joined Dinan in departing. Ciara Maguire (author of Impossible Heat) has been reported to have pulled out of the First Book prize by Out In Perth, and Andrew McMillan (author of Pity) has been named online as withdrawing from the Polari Prize.
Assigned can also report that June Thomas, (author of A Place of Our Own) is requesting that her name be withdrawn. Reached via email, Thomas wrote, “I confess I hadn't heard of Boyne until a few days ago, but having learned about him, I'm also going to pull out.”
Withdrawing from such a significant prize is no small thing, queer author Vikki Patis told Assigned Media via email. “Your book being longlisted for a prize can truly be a life-changing moment, especially for debut authors and those with small presses,” she wrote. “A prize such as the Polari held such weight amongst the LGBTQ+ publishing community, and so it has been understandably upsetting for us all to see this play out. I have so much respect for those who have withdrawn from it.” Patis, who writes suspense novels with a gothic twist, has been vigorously circulating an open letter to Polari from the writing community on Bluesky. The open letter itself was created by another queer writer, Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin, who is Irish.
Two additional authors longlisted for the Polari Prize, Avi Ben-Zeeb and Karen McLeod, have harshly criticized Boyne’s inclusion but stated they will not withdraw their names.
Update: After publication a commenter alerted us that Curtis Garner, author of Isaac, had also announced his withdrawal via Instagram.
This item featured original reporting by Evan Urquhart. Neither John Boyne nor the Polari Prize responded to requests for comment.
Transgender people in Georgia prisons have filed a class action lawsuit against Georgia corrections officials on behalf of nearly 300 people. The lawsuit accuses the state of cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the Eighth Amendment, for denying transgender prisoners access to hormones, grooming products, and medical care in relation to transition—effectively forcing them to detransition.
In May, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law SB 185, which prohibits the use of state funds or resources for anything relating to the treatment of gender dysphoria. After passage of the bill, plaintiffs were told that their hormone treatments would be gradually reduced, but were instead cut off from them completely, which can have disastrous physical and psychological complications.
Speaking with the 19th, Chinyere Ezie, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said, “It’s really unfortunate, I think that it has and will cost people’s lives. I think that the plan is to really just eradicate trans people from public life.”
After being told they would be allowed to retire early, the U.S. Air Force has denied retirement requests from transgender service members who had served between 15 and 18 years, who were told they’d be eligible for early retirement.
After President Trump signed an executive order in January banning transgender people from serving in the military, the military has enacted various policies for early retirement and separation. In the case of the Air Force, they allowed transgender people serving 18 or more years, rather than the standard 20 or more, to retire early; they also said that transgender servicemembers serving between 15 and 18 years were welcome to apply for an exemption for an early retirement as well.
Several dozen people applied for this retirement exception and initially were approved for it. However, on Monday, the Air Force released a memo stating that these approvals were “premature”, saying that they needed a higher level of review.
"After careful consideration of the individual applications, I am disapproving all Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA) exception to policy requests,” the memo from Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Brian Scarlett, said.
This reversal of promises forces these servicemembers to instead take a voluntary separation, which comes with a considerably smaller lump sum payout, losing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement and all the benefits that come with that.