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Amazon to stop selling anti-LGBTQ+ books

Rachel Badham March 14, 2021

Amazon will cease to sell books which frame being LGBTQ+ as equivalent to having a mental illness. According to The Wall Street Journal, the move from Amazon came about when a handful of US Republican senators wrote to chief executive Jeff Bezo, asking why the controversial book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, was not available on any of its platforms.

The company responded to senators on March 11 in a letter signed by Amazon’s vice president of public policy, Brian Huseman. The letter wrote:  “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…All retailers make decisions about what selection they choose to offer, as do we.”

Conservative scholar Ryan T Anderson, author of When Harry Became Sally, criticised Amazon’s decision, saying the company is seeking to shut down any debate about trans identities: “Amazon is using its massive power to distort the marketplace of ideas and is deceiving its own customers in the process.”

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