My Brother's Name is Jessica

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Martin also criticised Boyne for “misgendering” in his original article and rebuked his assertion that “there is no safe place for people to debate” trans topics “without being branded an enemy”. The setting is supposedly present-day London but, were it not for the reference to Brexit, I would have guessed it was at least a decade ago before everyone with a public profile who dared to even question transgender ideology was afraid of losing their livelihoods and reputations. Others argue that to centre the novel on a cis brother’s struggle to accept his sister is to unfairly prioritise cis experiences over those of trans people themselves. The same goes for the father, whose comparatively limited input into the story reminded me of how Margaret Thatcher’s husband would look like a spare part next to her in public and how I used to wonder what he was for. Trans activists have had difficulty, therefore, in understanding why he chooses not to describe himself using an adjective that marks him as not being transgender.

You were right on trans issues, author tells Father Ted

If there hadn’t been a fuss made about it, it wouldn’t have been on my radar and how depressing it is that the would-be censors of today have learned nothing from the past. The only glimpses we get of Jessica’s take on all of this are pithy, generic quotes that seem designed to encapsulate the “trans struggle” (“I’ve always felt this way.

Graham, without equivocation, without excuses, and without evasion: you were right, I was wrong, and I apologise. It’s only when Jessica offers to give up her identity and live her life as a lie for her family that the plot is resolved (even if that resolution does, eventually, involve her family supporting her transition). Just because I feel that I’m a girl doesn’t mean I have to like everything that girls like…” “Don’t you realize that my gender has absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on in my pants?

Author John Boyne Faces Backlash From Trans - GCN Irish Author John Boyne Faces Backlash From Trans - GCN

Because it seems the only three people who can understand Jessica’s struggle at all are her psychotherapist — whose only defining feature is that he looks like a guy in a band; her football coach — who could care less about gender, so long as the team keeps winning; and Aunt Rose. Putting aside the book’s representation of trans issues for a moment (yes, we will get to it), even just in terms of Jessica as a story, there is very little that I found I could enjoy. Boyne’s previous commentary on trans issues, however, has increased concern that he may be the wrong man for the job. In the same way if I were involved in a discussion about, say, Black Lives Matter, I would point out that I am a white person and I am speaking from a position of white privilege. I haven’t seen a lot of young adult literature that is so open with having a transgender character, and I was looking forward to seeing how the character was represented.I am tired of my life and the lives of my community being put up for the debate: which bathrooms should we use? Of all people to come forward with transphobia and deny Jason the opportunity to participate in sport, it would make sense that it be the coach.