Amazon has defended the decision to remove a book about transgender people from its catalog, explaining that the platform does not sell writings describing gender identities as mental illnesses, a decision strongly criticized Friday by the author who denounces "
Lies
".
Four US Republican senators wrote to the online sales giant at the end of February to ask for an explanation on the withdrawal of the book "
When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment
", by conservative author Ryan T. Anderson and published in 2018.
Read also: Transgender adolescents: "There is a real fashion phenomenon in the United States"
"
Regarding this case, we have decided not to sell books that present the LGBTQ + identity (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queers, editor's note) as a mental illness,
" Brian Huseman, vice-president of the Amazon's public policy department, in a letter viewed by AFP.
“
As a bookseller, we provide our clients with access to a range of perspectives, including books that some clients may find objectionable,
” he continued in his response to Senators Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, Mike Braun and Josh Hawley.
He said that thousands of writers, with "
diverse opinions
", have also published themselves on the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform.
“
However, we reserve the right not to sell certain content,
” added Huseman.
On Friday, the author accused Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos of making “
false statements about me and my book
” as soon as his book was released in 2018. “
Amazon, owned by Bezos, is now repeating these lies to justify the cancellation of my book,
”tweeted Ryan T. Anderson.
The author also echoed an argument he made in 2018: “
Please quote the passage when I call them 'mentally ill'.
You cannot quote this passage because it does not exist.
"
We must respect the dignity of people who identify as transgender
", writes the author according to excerpts available online, "
but without encouraging children to undergo experimental transitional treatments, and without trampling on the needs and interests of others.
""
The best of biology, psychology and philosophy all support the idea that sex is a bodily reality and gender a social manifestation of bodily sex.
Biology is not puritanism,
”he continued.
The decision of the online sales giant occurs in full conservative offensive against transgender sports in the United States and while some conservatives accuse the Democrats, and the giants of the tech, want to "
undo
" ( "
cancel
") their voice because that they have different opinions.
