This week, Amazon said it would not sell books that frame gender or gender identity as a mental illness. His statement came weeks after the company sold one of his favorite books entitled ‘When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement‘.
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The book
”When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movementis an author by curator Ryan T. Anderson, a professor at the University of Dallas in Texas. It was published in 2018.
According to his preview, the book highlights “the difference between the sunny media image of sexual fluency and the sad reality of living with sexual dysphoria. It gives a voice to people who tried to ‘transition’ by changing their bodies, and weren’t better off ”.
In a column, the author stated that he was attacked twice The New York Times op-ed page ”, and that The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, ran a “big piece” that was “full of mistakes”.
The book was taken down days after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act that protects LGBT + people from discrimination because of their sex and gender identity. The bill is now being directed to the Senate, where, in 2019, it failed to get enough support to get through.
Amazon Decision
On February 21 this year, after three years of selling the book on its site, Amazon decided to remove it. The company said the decision was made following a change in its “Content Guidelines for Books”, based on the fact that they would not sell any books that “frame the LGBTQ + identity as a mental illness.”
Amazon stated this in a letter sent to Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Mike Braun of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri, who had asked the company to explain their decision. Defending its position, the company said, “… we give our customers access to a number of ideas, including books that some customers may find unreasonable.”
They also said that before releasing the book, they had sent an email to the issuer, informing them of the company’s decision to suspend its sale as it was contrary to the instructions. their content. “The email provided a link to our content guide and provided a way to contact us if there are any questions,” the letter commented.
Anderson has said he or his publisher was not informed of Amazon’s decision to withdraw the book. In a column published on the website First things first, Anderson said, “I know there is no reason to blindly believe that implementing unlimited freedom at Big Tech is the best way to protect human protection and human dignity.”
Meanwhile, publisher Encounter Books said in a statement, “If Amazon, which controls most book sales in America, has decided to list a book because it does not some of his posts do not agree, that is an attack without the idea of free speech. ”
Amazon’s decision was also criticized by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC). They said the company has the right not to sell a book as part of the First Amendment, but “when Amazon decides to remove a book, it ‘s important not just to its author and publisher , but to the whole public sphere. ”