chris: (crisis)
Chris ([personal profile] chris) wrote2025-08-22 01:43 am

The Polari Prize 2025

You may recall that my late husband, Emerson Milford Dickson, was a judge for the first children's and YA prize at the Polari Prize awards, which are UK literary prizes for LGBTQ+ literature, in 2022; I mentioned that he took joy and pride in having been one in the memorial service speech I wrote about him at the time.

You may also be aware that the longlist for one of this year's Polari Prize awards included a nomination for a work by somebody overtly transphobic with a long history of hateful outbursts, among other things. As a result of this, many nominees for this year's awards, as well as some of the judges, have withdrawn, and it has widely been published that the awards this year have been cancelled.

I don't know if Emerson might have been asked to judge the counterpart children's and YA prize in 2024 or to remain involved onwards. I do know that, whether or not he had, Emerson would have been incensed by that inclusion in the longlist, and he would have been extremely vocal about it, absolutely lending his support to those judges who withdrew at the very least. As much as I and many others miss him, there have been many developments over the last couple of years that I am (and I know many others are) glad he has not had to live through. He would have felt particularly disappointed and betrayed by the Polari Prize, though.

The statement put out on behalf of the awards says that "Polari is not and has never been a trans exclusionary organisation. These are not our values and we condemn all forms of transphobia." This is difficult, at best, to reconcile with its longlisting decision, or with some of the actions of - and voices followed by - the Prize's founder. The slow and equivocal nature of the response by the Prize also does not offer reassurance. If the awards continue and if they continue to condemn all forms of transphobia, they cannot offer a platform to the repeatedly, openly and vocally transphobic.

I do not expect this to contribute to the public discussion; it can only be a drop in the wave. However, it would not be in keeping with my sacred memory of Emerson, and those who loved him, not to say anything at all.