Amazon on Thursday announced plans to stop selling all books calling transgender and other sexual identities mental illness, a decision taken after four Republican senators complained to CEO Jeff Bezos last month when the company take single book on the subject from its virtual shelves. .
In his response to the senators Thursday, Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president for public policy, said the company’s content guidelines are updated regularly, sometimes leading to the removal of previously approved books.
The company did not intend to single out one book, he explained. On the contrary, it would completely ban the whole category.
“We reserve the right not to sell certain content,” Huseman wrote. ‘All retailers make decisions about the choice they want to offer, just like us.
‘What your specific question is about When Harry Became Sally, we have chosen not to sell books that portray LGBTQ + identity as a mental illness. ”
The book ‘When Harry Become Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment’ was available on Amazon for three years before being removed in February.
Its sudden disappearance from Amazon’s store led Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mike Braun (Ind.) And Josh Hawley (Mo.) accused the e-commerce giant of political censorship “for committing the crime of violating group thinking.”
The men also accuse Amazon of having a ‘vague, undefined’ offensive content ‘standard that was inappropriately used to justify the removal of one book, noting that it was previously allowed to sell.
In response to the claim Thursday, Huseman noted that Amazon has clarified its content guidelines. The company now explicitly excludes “books that express LGBTQ + identity as a mental illness”.
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