It’s the rare day when I praise Amazon for anything, but they did something right:

Amazon stops selling books that describe being LGBTQ+ as an illness

The company explained their decision to a group of Republican senators in a letter dated March 11.

Gonna guess that this was NOT the outcome that the Y’all Qaeda brain trust wanted:

First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the letter was addressed to Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), in response to an earlier letter from the senators dated Feb. 24.

How many 2024 Goat Rodeo candidates do you spot in that list? Yeah, me too.

The senators reportedly said in the first letter that Amazon’s decision to revoke “When Harry Became Sally” represents a message “to conservative Americans that their views are not welcome on its platforms,” per the Journal.

No, hate speech is not welcome on their platform. Maybe we should thank Y’all Qaeda for bringing it to Amazon’s attention?

The HuffPo picks up some details that The Hill missed:

The company hadn’t intended to single out one book, he explained. Rather, it will be banning the entire category altogether.

You know, as a private company can do. Right, Senators?

“We reserve the right not to sell certain content,” [Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president for public policy] wrote. “All retailers make decisions about what selection they choose to offer, as do we.“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.”

Given all the books on Amazon, it is strange how 4 senators noticed this and decided to investigate, innit? My guess: the author got their attention…

Read this thread. Three years ago Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post made false statements about me and my book (which they subsequently silently corrected--see the thread). Now Bezos-owned Amazon is repeating those falsehoods as justification for cancelling my book. https://t.co/nyQ97oh2qZ

— Ryan T. Anderson (@RyanTAnd) March 12, 2021

…and they thought that they could frame the story as Dr. Seussian Cancel Culture.

Its sudden disappearance from Amazon’s store prompted Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mike Braun (Ind.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) to accuse the e-commerce giant of political censorship “for the the crime of violating woke groupthink.”

And that’s a wrap.

Republished with permission from Mock Paper Scissors.