Authors' comments on transgender characters raise some ire

Two authors are facing some criticism in regards to transgender characters in books.

First was John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, who recently published a new book about a boy’s journey to understand and accept his transgender sister.

My Brother’s Name is Jessica has been called transphobic by some activists; Boyne has gone off Twitter in response to pushback to an article he wrote about it, but his publisher told the Irish Times that it stands behind Boyne and his book.

Not long after all of this broke, author Jacqueline Wilson was asked whether she’d consider putting a transgender character in one of her books.

Her response to that question didn’t seem to be the issue, but rather her follow-up comments that expressed concern about children taking drugs or being operated on after identifying as trans.

You can read more of what Wilson said in the Bookseller.