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Amazon De-ranks Books With Gay Content



Online retailer Amazon.com recently began to de-rank books containing "adult" content, resulting in what appears to be an arbitrary censoring of many gay and lesbian titles.

The censored titles span a variety of genres and include pillars of gay and lesbian literature such as Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, and Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg.

Books that are de-ranked lose the chance to appear in Amazon's best-seller lists, and also may be removed from search results.

Author and independent publisher Mark Probst noticed the change on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times. Probst inquired with Amazon, and received the following response:

"In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude 'adult' material from appearing in some searches and best-seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature."

In a display of the new policy's inconsistency, some books with adult content, such as Naked Lunch by William Burroughs and Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, remain ranked. Other cases show that the same book may or may not be de-ranked, depending on the publisher.

Notice of the change spread swiftly across Twitter over the weekend, and a Facebook petition has been launched to condemn the de-rankings.

By Sunday evening, Amazon had blamed the de-rankings on a "glitch" that it said was being corrected.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Bryan
    Date posted: 4/14/2009 9:16:00 AM
    Hometown: Summerville

    Comment:

    I used to buy a lot of books from Amazon. A few weeks ago I discovered something amazing. Most towns have this place where you can join for free and borrow books for free, I think they call it a library. So long Amazon!

  • Name: RonK
    Date posted: 4/14/2009 8:12:00 AM
    Hometown: Clifton, NJ

    Comment:

    Everyone is clamoring for the GLBTQ $$ these days and the best way we can fight this is to BOYCOTT. It may not have an impact, but we always need to show our true colors in matters of censorship, as well as discrimination. Anyone noticed on P.74 of this week's print-Advocate the shout-out to Cracker Barrel? Cracker Barrel has been embroiled in controversy, first with gay rights groups and then with claims of racial discrimination and sexual harassment; for the Advocate itself to be now promoting that company is a darn disgrace. So, don't expect ANYONE to do for us what we need to do for ourselves.

  • Name: kim
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 8:22:00 PM
    Hometown: jackson heights

    Comment:

    LETS BOYCOTT AMAZON

  • Name: kim
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 8:20:00 PM
    Hometown: queens

    Comment:

    Lets Boycott Amazon

  • Name: astrid
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 7:41:00 PM
    Hometown: amsterdam

    Comment:

    funny glitch if it does not affect the listings on amazon.co.uk at all?

  • Name: Jack Fritscher
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 7:32:00 PM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    Letter to Amazon: Respect legit art & culture! I buy/write books. In De-Ranking, you destroy culture & diversity. You also threaten my rice bowl--my livelihood. Do not cave to censorship of Puritans in the American Culture War. I bring $ to Amazon: 1) I am a GLBT author; 2) new editions of my books are pub'd by your BookSurge; 3) at my website, I am a 3-way member of Amazon Prime and Amazon Associates and Amazon Advantage. My two new titles "Gay San Francisco" & "Stonewall" are part of legitimate American Culture & deserve the respect of being listed along with every other book at Amazon.

  • Name: Paul
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 7:29:00 PM
    Hometown: New York, NY`

    Comment:

    I just wrote an email to amazon.com, stating I will not be buying any more merchandise from them until an apology and an explanation concerning their homophobic decision has been made to the gay community. I invite everyone here to let them know exactly how you feel and how their stupidity will hit them financially.

  • Name: Rich
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 6:33:00 PM
    Hometown: Falls Church, VA

    Comment:

    Hi John (Huntsville, AL)- I definitely respect your post and do understand that all of us (gay AND straight) shouldn't cast stones so easily and make generalizations. But that's really, really hard to do when (as a LGBT individual), you hear of these situations where once again, we are treated like second class citizens. When does it stop? It's bad enough that there are businesses out there who are courting the so-called "gay dollar" just to make a buck when their intent is to objectify us. And it is even worse when those who vote against any change for marriage equality still expect us to be there as their designers, hair stylists and (insert the proper stereotypical job category here). I completely understand the frustration that all of us have. Allow us to vent.

  • Name: Bruce
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 6:33:00 PM
    Hometown: Baltimore

    Comment:

    I know where I can spend my money and it will not be here on amazon!

  • Name: John
    Date posted: 4/13/2009 5:31:00 PM
    Hometown: Huntsville, AL

    Comment:

    "some soccer mom probably complained that her son was caught looking at "Gay" books..." Where in the world did you get the idea that women whose children play soccer are the likely lot to demand censorship of gay reading material? Do liberals encourage their children to eschew soccer? Gee, that's something I wasn't aware of. What a horrendously stupid thing to say.

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