{"id":125309,"date":"2021-03-13T12:15:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T16:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=125309"},"modified":"2021-03-13T12:15:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T16:15:12","slug":"amazon-rejects-book-that-frames-lgbt-as-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/amazon-rejects-book-that-frames-lgbt-as-illness\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon rejects book that \u2018frames LGBT as illness\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amazon has said that it will not sell books that frame gender or sexual identities as mental illnesses.<\/p>

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\u201cWe reserve the right not to sell certain content,\u201d the company said in a letter to the US Congress.<\/p>\n

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The retail giant was responding to Republican senators who asked why it had removed a book by a conservative author from all of its platforms.<\/p>

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Last month, the House of Representatives passed legislation that prohibits LGBT discrimination.<\/p>

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The landmark Equality Act, however, still needs to pass the Senate. So far, no Senate Republicans \u2013 who hold 50 of the 100 seats \u2013 have said they will vote for the bill.<\/p>\n

Amazon removed the book When Harry Became Sally, by Ryan Anderson and published in 2018, from its online stores, e-book and audio book platforms last month.<\/p>

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The book sets out to answer \u201cquestions arising from our transgender moment\u201d, its publisher, Encounter Books, says on its website.<\/p>\n

It adds that through the book Anderson \u201cexposes the contrast between the media\u2019s sunny depiction of gender fluidity and the often sad reality of living with gender dysphoria\u201d.<\/p>

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Shortly after When Harry Became Sally was removed from Amazon on 21 February, Republican senators Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley, Mike Braun and Mike Lee sent a letter to the retailer requesting an explanation for its decision.<\/p>

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Among other questions, they asked: \u201cIs this action part of a broader campaign against conservative material and voices on Amazon\u2019s platforms?\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Amazon replied in a letter to the senators that said \u201call retailers make decisions about what selection they choose to offer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offer customers across the political spectrum a wide variety of content that includes disparate opinions,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe carefully consider the content we make available in our stores, and we review our approach regularly\u2026 we have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazon said it had notified the book\u2019s distributor in advance that it was removing the publication \u201cfor violating our content guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Anderson and Encounter Books criticised the decision in a joint statement, saying that \u201cno good comes from shutting down a debate about important matters\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone agrees that gender dysphoria is a serious condition that causes great suffering,\u201d the statement adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a debate, however\u2026 about how best to treat patients who experience gender dysphoria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amazon has said that it will not sell books that frame gender or sexual identities as mental illnesses. \u201cWe reserve the right not to sell certain content,\u201d the company said in a letter to the US Congress. The retail giant was responding to Republican senators who asked why it had removed a book by a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":125310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nAmazon rejects book that \u2018frames LGBT as illness\u2019 - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/amazon-rejects-book-that-frames-lgbt-as-illness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amazon rejects book that \u2018frames LGBT as illness\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amazon has said that it will not sell books that frame gender or sexual identities as mental illnesses. \u201cWe reserve the right not to sell certain content,\u201d the company said in a letter to the US Congress. 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