Amazon eliminates books that frame LGBTQ issues as mental illness

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Amazon recently made the decision to remove books from its catalog of transgender and other LGBTQ identities as mental illness, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The movement came after four Republicans – Sen. Marco RubioMarco Antonio Rubio Rubio and the group of bipartisan senators push for summer time to be permanent Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by the National Foundation for Shooting Sports (Fla.), Mike LeeMichael (Mike) Shumway Lee Mike Lee says the “For the People” bill is “like being written in hell by the devil himself.” The Black Caucus supports Biden’s choice to lead the DOJ Biden Civil Rights Division. searched on the best antitrust scholar for the FTC MORE (Utah), Mike BraunMichael Braun: Senate honors Senate for “Hoosiers” film for “stupid”, “stupid” session ahead of COVID-19 vote, Murthy vows to focus on pandemic effects on mental health if confirmed as general surgeon MORE (Ind.) And Josh HawleyJoshua (Josh) David Hawley “Canceling Culture” is Only Freedom of Expression That Makes Others Responsible The White House Seeks Solutions to Hurry the Border Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by the National Shooting Sports Foundation – CDC News (Mo) – sent a letter on February 24 to the executive director Jeff BezosJeffrey (Jeff) Preston Bezos Pentagon awards 0M in contracts to Musk’s philanthropist SpaceX, MacKenzie Scott, marries after divorce from Jeff Bezos Marianne Williamson: Refusal to raise minimum wage is part of “fake economy” MORE the question of why “When Harry Became Sally: The Answer to the Transgender Moment” was no longer available on Amazon platforms, including Kindle and Audible.

“Regarding your specific question about When Harry Became Sally, we chose not to sell books that frame LGBTQ + identity as a mental illness,” Amazon said in the letter to senators, obtained by the outlet.

Amazon’s vice president of public policy, Brian Huseman, wrote in the letter that the company has changed its content guide for books since 2018, but did not explain how.

Amazon said it offers its customers “access to a variety of points of view, including books that some customers may find unacceptable.”

“That being said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content,” Huseman wrote. “All retailers make decisions about which selection they choose to offer, just like us.”

It is unclear how many books Amazon has or will remove according to the new standard. Hill contacted the company for comments.

“When Harry Became Sally,” published in 2019, was written by conservative scientist Ryan T. Anderson and discusses several issues, including gender identity.

“This book exposes the contrast between the media’s sunny description of gender fluidity and the often sad reality of living with gender dysphoria,” according to his online description. “It gives voice to people who tried to ‘transition’ by changing their bodies and did not wake up better. The stories told by adults who were encouraged to go into childhood are particularly worrying, but later they regretted that they underwent those drastic procedures ”.

Anderson responded to the news on Twitter, saying that Amazon “seems to have never read my books, but relied on hit songs.”

“As I pointed out earlier, ‘Please quote the passage, what I’ call mentally ill, ‘” Anderson wrote. “You can’t quote that passage because it doesn’t exist.”

Anderson and Roger Kimball, the publisher of Encounter Books, which released the headline, said in a statement to the WSJ that “everyone agrees that gender dysphoria is a serious condition that causes great suffering.”

“There is, however, a debate that Amazon is trying to close on how best to treat patients with gender dysphoria,” they added, calling their book an “important contribution” to the conversation.

“Amazon uses its massive power to distort the market for ideas and deceives its own customers in the process,” Anderson and Kimball said in a joint statement.

Conservatives framed the removal of the book as censorship, which they threw against Amazon because it continued to sell other controversial or problematic books such as “Mein Kampf” or “Communist Manifesto”.

“When Harry became Sally has sparked important discussions in the national media and among policy makers in 2018 and remains one of the most rigorously researched and compassionately argued books on the subject, “senators wrote to Amazon last month.” By removing this book from its markets and services, Amazon has flawlessly exercised its oversized market share to silence an important voice only for the crime of violating the thinking of the “woke” group.

Amazon has denied that removing the book would be part of a larger campaign against conservative materials and voices.

“We offer clients across the political spectrum a wide variety of content that includes disparate opinions,” the company wrote back.

Senators did not respond to requests for comment from The Wall Street Journal.

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