Mary Margaret Olohan, DCNF

• The American Booksellers Association (ABA) apologized Wednesday for mailing out a paper-back reprint of a book on transgenderism among teenaged girls who formerly displayed feminine traits and tendencies.
• “An anti-trans book was included in our July mailing to members,” the ABA said. “This is a serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s ends policies, values, and everything we believe and support. It is inexcusable.”
• Abigail Shrier’s book has sparked controversy and gained the attention of media pundits such as Joe Rogan since it was published in June 2020. In November, Target apologized for removing the book from its shelves after a Twitter user complained that the book was “transphobic.”

The American Booksellers Association apologized Wednesday for mailing out a paper-back reprint of a book on transgenderism among teenaged girls who formerly displayed feminine traits and tendencies.

“An anti-trans book was included in our July mailing to members,” the American Booksellers Association (ABA) said in a statement. “This is a serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s ends policies, values, and everything we believe and support. It is inexcusable.”

@ABAbook I’m seething. I was excited to open our July white box, and then the first book I pulled out is “Irreversible Damage.” Do you know how that feels, as a trans bookseller and book buyer? It isn’t even a new title, so it really caught me in the gut. Do better. pic.twitter.com/VYb1ZKrv9A

— Casey (@CaseyBookEater) July 14, 2021

Abigail Shrier’s book, “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” has sparked controversy and gained the attention of media pundits such as Joe Rogan since it was published in June 2020. In November, Target apologized for removing the book from its shelves after a Twitter user complained that the book was “transphobic.”

Shrier told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday afternoon that the ABA did nothing wrong in sending her book to independent booksellers.

“No one was forced to read it or display it,” she said. “But ABA’s groveling, performative, hyperbolic apology, in which they call their mailing of a book a ‘serious, violent incident’ displays their contempt for an open, liberal society tolerant of a diversity of viewpoints. That’s a tragically misguided position for a bookselling organization to take.”

The author pointed out that her book examines the unprecedented spikes in teen girls identifying as transgender who “had never before shown any signs of gender dysphoria,” many of whom are “acting under peer influence and ultimately going down a path that they will regret.”

“My book explicitly honors the experiences of transgender adults, never disparages them, and never implies that the trans identity is a mental illness,” Shrier said. “Amazon carefully reviewed the book’s content and correctly decided that it belongs in ‘Earth’s Biggest Selection.’ They are also correct to retain the dozens of books that uncritically celebrate teen gender transitions. Families facing difficult choices about children and gender identity need to hear all sides of this conversation.”

pic.twitter.com/RmPSkmyrmX

— American Booksellers Association (@ABAbook) July 14, 2021

“We apologize to our trans members and to the trans community for this terrible incident and the pain we caused them,” the ABA statement continued. “We also apologize to the LGBTQIA+ community at large, and to our bookselling community.”

“Apologies are not enough,” the ABA added. “We’ve begun addressing this today and are committed to engaging in the critical dialogue needed to inform concrete steps to address the harm we caused. Those steps will be shared in the next three weeks.”

At least two Amazon employees have resigned recently over Amazon’s decision to continue selling the book, which is currently listed as the #2 seller in the category of LGBTQ+ Demographic Studies.

“The book literally has[craze] in the title and considers being transgender a mental illness in many senses throughout the book,” former Amazon employee Selene Xenia told NBC News.

Xenia praised Amazon for removing “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment” in February. Amazon had said at the time that it had “chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.”

“I found it extremely hypocritical for Amazon to say that it would stock this book and not another similar one,” said Xenia, who identifies as trans and reportedly resigned over the book. “It looks like Amazon had to remove that particular book for PR reasons, not because they felt morally obligated to.”

Dear Amazon HR,

You're welcome!

Yours,
Abigail https://t.co/NwJUo0UriK

— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) July 14, 2021

“This issue won’t go away just because some disgruntled Amazon employees wish it would,” Shrier told NBC News in a statement. “And banning the book won’t help these girls or anyone else. My book goes out of its way to honor the experiences of transgender adults, never disparages them, and never implies that the trans identity is a mental illness.”

Shrier did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

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