Censorship Of A TERF

Wow! This is a very hot topic... is it censorship or protest. Can you have one or other, or both!

There is a LGBT award, 2025 Polari Prize, across the pond and there is a huge controversy over the author, a gay men about book called Earth by John Boyne. because he is a Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist or a TERF!

John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’

Gender-critical novelist urges writers to re-enter prize they boycotted and may ask judges not to shortlist his novella

The Guardian

Matthew Weaver

Thu 14 Aug 2025

The gender-critical Irish novelist John Boyne has said he has been brought “very close to the edge” by the backlash to his inclusion on the longlist for a literary prize for LGBTQ+ authors.

Ten authors and two judges withdrew from the Polari prize and more than 800 writers and publishing industry workers signed a petition calling on Polari to remove Boyne’s novella Earth from its longlist.

In his first response to the row, Boyne urged new writers boycotting the prize to re-enter the award, saying they were either misguided or had been bullied or intimidated into withdrawing.

Boyne, who describes himself as a Terf – the acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist – said that if the writers did re-enter the list, he would ask the judges not to consider Earth for the shortlist.

Okay, should he and the book be banned? That is the question.

Alice Oseman, the author of Heartstopper, along with the writers Nikesh Shukla, Julia Armfield, Naoise Dolan, Seán Hewitt and Kirsty Logan are among the hundreds to have signed the statement against Boyne’s inclusion on the list.

It said Boyne had “unequivocally associated himself with trans exclusionary sentiments” and that his inclusion on the list was “inappropriate and hurtful to the wider community of LGBTQ+ readers and writers”.

“In any year, the decision to include Mr Boyne on the longlist would be, in our view, inappropriate and hurtful to the wider community of LGBTQ+ readers and writers,” the statement read. “That the decision has been made this year – in the context of rising anti-trans hatred and systematic exclusion of trans people from public life in the UK and across the world – is inexcusable.”

The word censorship raises the hair on the back of my neck,,, but disrespecting a whole community says a lot toward banning him. But what about boycotting the book? Or is it combination of banning and boycotting?

Lets look at Banning, it is top down, someone imposes the ban. Top down.

While Boycotting , bottom up, the community imposes the sanctions.

Banning books takes the judgement away from the people and gives the power to another person to decide for you, while boycotting is by the people untied.

So back to the 2025 Polari Prize. It is an award, a recognition of their work by their own community, so really banning and boycotting do not fit in here because you are not banning the book... but the author. Boycotting mean you chose what to do, or as they say let your pocketbook do your talking.

What I take exception to is the nomination to begin with... the award is a community award. That means people voted for him in the selection process... that is where the banning should have happened. He never should have made it to this phase of the award selection.

To put it simply he does not represent the community.

Trump is in the running of the Nobel Peace Prize, if he wins the integrity of the Nobel Prize would be called into question... The whole world would immediately ignite a global conversation about the integrity of the Nobel Prize itself if he was given the prize.

Look at the Kennedy Center's honors. Trump has diluted the prestige of the awards and made it political. 

The fact that he was nominated doesn't bother me, but if he wins... then the integrity of the 2025 Polari Prize should be questioned for having someone who does not represent the whole LGBTQ+ community.