Transphobic gay author John Boyne is complaining about being cancelled in a column that he recently published on The Telegraph, a U.K. publication with over 2.3 million daily readers. Boynes book Earth was nominated for the Polari Prize, the U.K.s leading LGBTQ+ book award. However, 10 other nominees withdrew in protest of Boynes past transphobic comments.On July 26, The Irish Independentpublished an article in which Boyne celebrated the 60th birthday of his friend, transphobic billionaire J.K. Rowling. Rowling is the famed author of the Harry Potter fantasy book series, who has used her wealth to finance court cases that have resulted in the rollback of trans civil rights across the U.K. Related JK Rowling says to photograph women in toilets just in case theyre transgender In the article, Boyle referred to himself as a fellowTERF (atransgender-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 seriesThe Handmaids Tale).Boyne has called trans women men, claimed that theyre 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 Rowlings transphobia are undersexed and middle-aged straight men, indoctrinated young people who fail to recognize actual misogyny and homophobia, and grown women who dont know any better. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today After 10 authors withdrew their nominations and numerous social media commenters questioned why an LGBTQ+ literary award would include an anti-trans writer, the Polari Prize initially issued a statement on August 7. It said in part, 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.However, after continued public backlash, the Polari Prize announced on August 18 that it would pause its 2025 award. The announcement reiterated the prizes commitment to inclusion and condemnation of all forms of transphobia. What was supposed to be a celebration of exceptional LGBTQ+ literature has been overshadowed by hurt and anger, which has been painful and distressing for all concerned, and we apologize to everyone who has been affected, the statement said.The awards organizers also promised to increase representation of trans and gender non-conforming judges on its panels and to undertake a governance and management review.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, the award organizers added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Polari Prize (@polariprize) Boyne reacted to the entire incident by publishing the aforementioned opinion column in The Telegraph. In it, he claimed he was unaware his book was nominated until he learned that a transgender judge on the Polari Prize panel had resigned due to his books inclusion.He also wrote that he invited the judges to release Earth from any further consideration should those who left, return to participate in the awards.My olive branch was rejected, however, and a petition begun to have me exiled to Elba [the island that French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was famously exiled to], which supposedly garnered 821 signatures, Boyne wrote. For a time, I called it the Loch Ness Monster of petitions everyone had heard of it, but no one had actually seen it but then, at last, I managed to procure a copy and realized why it had never, in fact, seen the light of day. To be polite, it lacked a certain name recognition factor.He said that the Polari Prizes most recent announcement worries him. It suggests that gays and lesbians who do not conform to a specific gender ideology will be rooted out and excluded from future consideration, the court effectively stacked against them in this obsessive need to amplify the voices of trans people, a strange fixation, he wrote.Its worth considering how this new emphasis might damage younger LGB writers and their right to both hold and express perfectly valid, entirely legal opinions on any subject, he wrote, adding that he never considered withdrawing his own book because to have done so would have endorsed a mob mentality, and ensured that future nominees would have their past publications and social media posts vetted by their colleagues for wrongthink and for anything that went against the orthodoxy.This, he wrote, would amount to the death of ideas brought about by raging tantrums of people who, I suspect, have not read anything with more than 280 characters for many years, a reference to people who spent most of their time on X and other microblogging platforms, where he received much criticism. He also said that, while he doesnt feel any ill will towards the authors who withdrew their own nominations, I do think they should reflect on how they would like to be treated should their names ever be maligned, their characters misrepresented, or their words twisted out of all context.We operate in the books world. Were supposed to believe in free speech and freedom of thought, he concluded. Were meant to treat each other with respect, not look for ways to tear each other down. To value the written word and not denigrate, insult, and push people to a point where those who are emotionally vulnerable might not survive their attacks. Most of us have the maturity to understand that, but its clear that some, particularly those at the start of their careers, still have to learn it.Studies suggest thatmore than 40% of transgender adultsin the U.S. have attempted suicide in their lifetime, and 30% of trans youth have attempted suicide in the past year, according to the National Institutes of Health. Psychologists say that trans peoples elevated suicidality primarily results from the violence and harassment they face from a disapproving public. J.K. Rowling uses her fortune to fund anti-trans legal attacksRowling has used her vast wealth, mostly accumulated through the success of herHarry Potterfranchise 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.A spokesperson for Rowling confirmed that the authors JK Rowling Womens Fund (JKRWF) has been quietly operating since late 2024, managing her ongoing financial support for legal cases involving womens and girls sex-based rights. The fund is just her latest effort to end trans womens rights in the U.K. In February 2024, she pledged 70,000 (about $89,000) to For Women Scotland (FWS), the anti-trans organization behind the legal challenge that resulted inthe U.K. Supreme Courts rulingthat excluded trans women from the countrys law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.HBO is currently producing aHarry Potterreboot to which Rowling will serve as an executive producer.Casey Bloys, HBOs gay CEO, has repeatedly dismissedconcerns about her toxic transphobia, saying that Rowling is entitled to her personal political views.According toThe Guardian, theHarry Potterfranchise is worth an estimated $25 billion. In a May 28 Blueskypost, British barrister Jolyon Maugham wondered how much of Rowlings fortune would be spent oppressing a minoritised group she doesnt like.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.