Amazon has declared its intent to continue banning books that argue against the reigning progressive narrative on LGBT issues.
In a March 11 letter to four Republican Senators, Amazon said that while they “provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable,” they draw the line at those who see gender dysphoria or other LGBT issues as pathologies.
We “have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness,” they declared.
Amazon’s letter came in response to an inquiry by the four senators — Rubio, Hawley, Braun, and Lee — as to why Amazon has decided to ban a bestselling book by conservative scholar Ryan T. Anderson on transgenderism.
As Breitbart News reported, in late February, Amazon digitally scrubbed Anderson’s 2018 book When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, just days before a Congressional vote on the Equality Act.
In its letter, signed by Vice President for Public Policy Brian Huseman, Amazon repeated that it offers “customers across the political spectrum a wide variety of content that includes disparate opinions” but that “we reserve the right not to sell certain content.”
Amazon has chosen to censor “disparate opinions” regarding the nature of gender dysphoria, which refers to the psychological distress experienced by those who do not feel comfortable with their biological sex.
According to Mr. Anderson himself, the real debate centers on whether gender dysphoria should be treated as a psychological problem, to be dealt with through counseling, or a medical problem that should be dealt with using puberty blockers and sexual reassignment surgery.
“Everyone agrees that gender dysphoria is a serious condition that causes great suffering,” Anderson wrote on Twitter late Thursday. “There is a debate, however, which amazon is seeking to shut down, about how best to treat patients who experience gender dysphoria.”
“Gender dysphoria is listed in the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which Amazon sells,” Anderson added. “So the real deciding factor seems to be whether you endorse hormones and surgery as the proper treatment or counseling.”
In a March 12 op-ed, the Wall Street Journal noted that Amazon’s decision to ban Anderson’s book “comes as the nation’s largest tech platforms are under increased scrutiny regarding the decisions they make over which content is acceptable.”
In their letter to Amazon, the senators characterized the decision to remove the book as a signal “to conservative Americans that their views are not welcome on its platforms,” the op-ed stated.
“Amazon is using its massive power to distort the marketplace of ideas and is deceiving its own customers in the process,” said Anderson and his publisher Roger Kimball in a joint statement Thursday.