“We have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as mental illness.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon will stop selling books that portray the LGBTQ+ community as mentally ill in new public letter.
The popular e-commerce leader made the announcement after Republican officials Josh Hawley, Mike Braun, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio slammed the company for removing the book When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment.
“As a bookseller, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable,” the letter stated.
“That said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content retailers make decisions about what selection question about When Harry Became Sally, we have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.”
In a report from Codex Group LLC, 53% of all US book sales are from come from Amazon, as well as 80% of all eBooks.
The LGBTQ+ organisation GLAAD praised the company’s decision to remove the anti-trans book in new statement.
“There’s an antiquated and shameful history of equating LGBTQ identity to mental illness, and Amazon’s decision to stop selling books that falsely equate the two is a positive step in ending the misinformation campaign against LGBTQ people, especially trans youth, meant only to cause harm,” a spokesperson said.
“This book is dangerous and harmful to trans kids, and those who are looking for information about trans identity should not look to resources written by someone who has made their livelihood by publishing screeds against the trans community.”
Since the removal of the offensive book, conservatives and the publishers for When Harry Became Sally have spoken out against the decision.
Anderson and Roger Kimball, the book’s publishers, released a statement stating that Amazon is “using it’s massive power to distort the marketplace of ideas”.
We applaud Amazon for making the book market on the site a little safer for the LGBTQ+ community.
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