Amazon is once again selling a book it quietly pulled off the shelves after news of it went public.
Earlier, retail giant Amazon removed the book, "Desist, Detrans, & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult," from its shelves without providing the author and publisher a reason why, The Daily Wire reported.
The book, written by Maria Keffler, aims to address current gender ideology issues -particularly transgenderism, and provides parents with counsel on how to response to the issue.
Keffler is an advocate for "parent's rights and children's protections." She is also a writer and speaker. Her work has been featured on various news outlets including The Federalist, The Washington Post, Choice Media and Uncommon Ground Media.
Co-founded by Keffler, Partners for Ethical Care, a group that raises awareness about the issues on gender identity, said that the online retailer just pulled the book without explanation.
"Desist, Detrans, & Detox" was reportedly pulled from Amazon's shelves less than a week from its release. The PEC noted that it has only sold "shy of 100" copies via three different platforms before Amazon stopped selling it.
Now, the PEC reported that Amazon has reinstated the sales of the book, making it available for purchase again.
"At this time Amazon has reinstated Desist, Detrans, & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult, and it is no longer blocked or delisted. The Kindle version is up and running; we are still waiting for the paperback to be relisted, which can take up to 72 hours after publication," the PEC said.
The group said it received several emails from Amazon. First, the retail giant said the book violated "Content Guidelines." Next, the retailer said the book was removed due to "territory" disputes. It's worth noting that at this point, according to the PEC, people from "around the world" were "calling and emailing Amazon" to express their disappointment over the retailer's decision to remove the book from its shelves.
Lastly, as the PEC was working on the territorial issue, Amazon sent another email saying it "incorrectly suppressed" the book's sales, and that the move was done in "error." The PEC celebrated the turn of events and thanked supporters for helping out:
"Though Amazon seems to be pretending that this was all just an innocent mistake, we credit our supporters for the reinstatement of Desist, Detrans, & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult. We have no doubt that Amazon's realization that it incorrectly suppressed our book was only due to our supporters' willingness to let Amazon know-- loudly and clearly-- that we do not support Amazon's censorship of books."
For those interested in getting Keffler's book, it is now available again via Amazon. It is also available for purchase in other platforms such as Barnes & Noble, Lulu, and Smashwords.
Censorship
Keffler's book was reportedly the second one to be removed by Amazon after it pulled Ryan T. Anderson's "When Harry Became Sally" in February. Anderson's book also tackles transgenderism.
The move follows the online retailer's modification of its policy on books, targeting "hate speech". But Daily Wire noted that books such as "Mein Kampf," written by the notorious anti-Semitic Adolf Hitler, are still available on the platform.
According to Brian Huseman, Amazon's vice president of public policy, the new policy applies to books that define transgender identity as mental illness.
Huseman reportedly explained the policy in a letter to the Republican senators, including Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, Mike Braun and Josh Hawley, who questioned Amazon's decision to remove Anderson's book.
Huseman also argued that Amazon's book policy modification and its endorsement of the other side of a public debate did not imply bias or attack against conservative ideas.
But Anderson criticized the online retailer for its action, saying that Amazon was just seeking to shutdown the debate over gender dysphoria.
"Everyone agrees that gender dysphoria is a serious condition that causes great suffering. There is a debate, however, which Amazon is seeking to shut down, about how best to treat patients who experience gender dysphoria," Anderson said.
Moreover, the author supported his argument with American Psychiatric Association's (APA) definition of gender dysphoria, which is a "psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one's sex assigned at birth and one's gender identity."
He added that gender dysphoria is listed in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and Mental Disorders," a book published by APA, which is also being sold by Amazon.
"So the real deciding factor seems to be whether you endorse hormones and surgery as the proper treatment or counseling," he further said.
The author also said that "Nowhere have I ever said or framed LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness" in the book.
Anderson is the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the founding editor of Public Discourse, Witherspoon Institute's online journal.
