Amazon Will Stop Selling Books with Opinions About Transgenderism It Doesn't Like

E-commerce giant and book publisher Amazon will reportedly no longer be selling books that frame transgenderism and other sexual identities as mental disorders.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon has removed a three-year-old book about transgender issues from its platform as the company has chosen to no longer sell books that frame transgenderism and other sexual identities as mental illnesses or disorders.

Amazon announced the decision in a letter sent on Thursday to Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Braun (R-IN) and Josh Hawley (R-MO). The senators wrote to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos last month requesting an explanation as to why the book titled When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment was no longer available on Amazon or its various platforms.

The response letter signed by Amazon Vice President of Public Policy Brian Huseman stated: “As to your specific question about When Harry Became Sally, we have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.”

When Harry Became Sally, is a book written by the conservative scholar Ryan T. Anderson and was published in February 2018. Anderson and Roger Kimball, of Encounter Books, the New York-based nonprofit that published the book, said in a statement responding to Amazon’s letter:

“Everyone agrees that gender dysphoria is a serious condition that causes great suffering. There is a debate, however, which Amazon is seeking to shut down, about how best to treat patients who experience gender dysphoria.” Anderson and Kimball stated that the book is “an important contribution” to that conversation, adding: “Amazon is using its massive power to distort the marketplace of ideas and is deceiving its own customers in the process.”
Amazon has made a number of waves in the book publishing world in recent months.

Breitbart News recently reported that Amazon is withholding its content from libraries as it thinks the terms involved with selling digital versions of books to libraries are unfavorable. It apparently upsets the Masters of the Universe that local residents can read the ebooks for free via lending platforms such as Libby.

Mikyla Bruder, the global marketing chief at Amazon Publishing, told The Washington Post: “It’s not clear to us that current digital library lending models fairly balance the interests of authors and library patrons. We see this as an opportunity to invent a new approach to help expand readership and serve library patrons, while at the same time safeguarding author interests, including income and royalties.”

COMMENTS