Polygon authors Val McDermid and Jo Sharp showed up this past weekend at Glasgow Pride with a firm stance of support for the transgender community. The civil-partnered pair are part of a group of older lesbians who, in recent years, have joined together to send a powerful message of solidarity at Pride events around the country. Last year, they made a splash at Edinburgh Pride with their ‘Older Dykes for Trans Rights’ T-shirts, which they also donned at this year’s Glasgow Pride on 18 July. (photo credit Jane Barlow, PA Media)
Val McDermid, who is one of Scotland’s most prolific novelists writing today, feels that it’s important especially for lesbians of her age group to speak up in support of transgender rights.
‘We wanted to counter the narrative put forward by some voices that if you’re a lesbian of a certain age, you must feel threatened by trans women. We’re about inclusivity, not exclusion. We remember the slings and arrows of Section 28 and we don’t want those visited on another generation.’
–Val McDermid
Just last year, Val McDermid won the Diva Allianz Writer of the Year award, which honours an author whose work amplifies LGBTQIA+ voices, stories and experiences.
Val McDermid and Jo Sharp have also joined forces to co-author the next novel in Polygon’s acclaimed Darkland Tales series. This Door of the Seas will be the seventh book in the series, which sees Scottish authors reimagine key moments from Scottish history, myth and legend. Previous titles in the series include Rizzio by Denise Mina, Hex by Jenni Fagan, Nothing Left to Fear from Hell by Alan Warner, Columba’s Bones by David Greig, Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid, and, most recently, Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet.
This Door of the Seas sheds light on the Darien Venture, or Scotland’s only attempt at founding a trading colony in the Americas in the seventeenth century. Darien was the singular event in history which fundamentally altered Scotland’s future and propelled it towards union with England. This Door of the Seas, the latest Darkland Tale, will be published by Polygon in August 2026.
