Ten of the 24 authors nominated for the Polari Prize, the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ book awards, have withdrawn themselves over the nomination of John Boyne, an anti-transgender author who is friends with transphobic billionaire J.K. Rowling.

Boyne, who was nominated for his novella Earth, wrote an article in The Irish Independent celebrating Rowling’s 60th birthday in which he referred to himself as a “fellow TERF” (a transgender-exclusionary radical feminist), and said women who support trans rights are “complicit in their own erasure” and “ready to pin down a handmaiden as her husband rapes her” (a reference to woman-assisted sexual assault in the dystopian TV series The Handmaid’s Tale).

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Boyne has called trans women “men”, claimed that they’re stealing opportunities from female students and athletes (even though the actual number of trans competitors remains incredibly small), called gender-affirming care “experimentation” (even though most major medical associations have considered the care safe and essential for decades), and claimed that the people criticizing Rowling’s transphobia are undersexed and middle-aged straight men; “indoctrinated” young people who “fail to recognize actual misogyny and homophobia,” and grown women who don’t know any better.

The writers who have since withdrawn their Polari Prize nominations include Mae Diansangu, Sacha Coward, Sanah Ashan, Jason Okundaye, Amy Twigg, Ciara Maguire, Olumide Popoola, Robert Hamberger, Andrew McMillan, and Rhian Elizabeth. Panel judge Nicola Dinan has also dropped out of the award selection process.

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UPDATE: 10 of the 24 longlisted authors have now withdrawn from the Polari Prize. First Book: Jason Okundaye, Sacha Coward, Sanah Ahsan, Amy Twigg, Mae Diansangu, Ciara Maguire Main award: Olumide Popoola, Robert Hamberger, Andrew McMillan, Rhian Elizabeth Judging panel: Nicola Dinan, Bob Hughes

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— Jay Hulme (@jayhulmepoet.bsky.social) August 10, 2025 at 7:30 AM

In a statement, the Polari Prize wrote, “We do not eliminate books based on the wider views of a writer, we regret the upset and hurt this has caused,” adding, “We can at times hold radically different positions on substantive issues.”

Statement regarding The Polari Book Prize Longlist 2025 pic.twitter.com/VSkQfPWUMk

— Polari Prize (@PolariPrize) August 7, 2025

However, author Patrick Ness responded to the statement, writing, “You can’t call yourself ‘a prize for LGBTQ+ literature’ and [nominate] a self-proclaimed terf,” adding, “This is like [nominating] a racist with authors of color then telling everyone it’s a mere ‘different position on a substantive issue’. Trans people are a fact. Not an ‘issue.'”

Polari Prize nominee Sacha Coward wrote that he asked the Polari Prize to remove its nomination for his book Queer As Folklore, writing, “I simply cannot continue with this in good faith… The quality of [Boyan’s] wprl is irrelevant. This is supposedly an award for ALL LGBTQ+ folks. Celebrating inclusion. Not exclusion and division.”

“My book is about ALL queer folk,” Coward continued. “It was supported by trans people and read by trans people. After the recent statement from Polari I find myself unsatisfied. I have to go with my integrity here just to be able to look myself in the mirror.

In a now-closed public letter, hundreds of other writers, editors, publishers, and booksellers also wrote against Boyne’s nomination, Star Observer reported.

Responding to the controversy, Rowling posted a screenshot of the letter and wrote, “Oh, f**k off. I hope everyone buys twice as many @JohnBoyneBooks, a) because he’s brilliant, and b) to p**s off the Gender Taliban.”

Oh, fuck off. I hope everyone buys twice as many @JohnBoyneBooks, a) because he’s brilliant, and b) to piss off the Gender Taliban. pic.twitter.com/FrTs424kAs

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 9, 2025

Rowling has used her vast wealth, mostly accumulated through the success of her Harry Potter franchise and its many multimedia spinoffs, to personally fund legal cases aimed at diminishing rights and protections for transgender women in the U.K. and Ireland. She regularly depicts trans people as a threat to girls’ and women’s safety.

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