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Books

Amazon employees protest the sale of anti-transgender books

Amazon’s employees are taking to the streets, in a bid to remove books that discriminate against transgender that are currently for sale on the retail giant’s shelves. 

Amazon employees are marching in Seattle’s Pride Parade to protest the retail giant’s sale of anti-transgender books. The planned demonstration during the Pride Parade, which is expected to attract as many as 500,000 spectators, will be a “No Hate at Amazon” most visible protest to date.

To date, more than 600 employees have signed the petition and about 20 workers have quit the company due to the sale of titles they say misrepresent what it means to be transgender. 

Credit: ChannelNews

Titles such as the 2020 Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, by Abigail Shrier, and When Harry Became Sally (which they removed last year) due to their classification of transgender people as having mental disorders, and claimed teenagers identifying as trans is a “trend”.

Speaking with Bloomberg, ex-Amazon employee Lina Jodoin, who transitioned two years ago said “It’s pretty jarring to see books that are promoting that trans people should not transition in the LGBT book section, it just hurts on a personal level.”

Seattle Pride organizers also dropped Amazon as a corporate sponsor this year, citing its support of lawmakers and organisations that support anti-LGBTQ legislation.

In response, Amazon spokesperson Maggie Sivon said “We respect that many people care deeply about this topic, and we remain committed to providing an inclusive work environment for all of our 1.6 million employees. As a company, we believe strongly in diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a bookseller, we’ve chosen to offer a very broad range of viewpoints, including books that conflict with our company’s stated positions”.