***Amazon: If A Book is About Gays, Then It's an Adult Book***
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Over the past weekend, Amazon.com appeared to have begun re-classifying nearly all of its gay-themed books as "Adult," regardless of considerations of language, sexual situations, or violence. Although Amazon will continue selling the books, the re-classification removes gay titles from Amazon's sales rankings.
According to gay author Mark Probst, the re-classifications seem to have begun noticeably April 11 with two high-profile gay novels, Transgressions by Erastes and False Colors by Alex Beecroft. The next day, hundreds of gay novels disappeared from Amazon's sales charts, including Probst's own The Filly. When Probst inquired with Amazon as to what was going on, he got the following email:
**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.
Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.
Best regards,
Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage**
hxxp://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html
Probst isn't the only gay author to get this response from Amazon. Blogger Craig Seymour says he got the same answer from Amazon in February, when his own book's sales rankings disappeared.
hxxp://craigspoplife.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-amazon-homophobic.html
Michelangelo Signorelli reports that every one of his books has disappeared from Amazon's sales rankings. So has Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room," and Andrew Holleran's Dancer from the Dance.
Meta Writer has posted a list of the reclassified books here:
hxxp://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11992.htmlMeanwhile, racy heterosexual books have not been reclassified. Remaining in Amazon's sales rankings are Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller; American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; Wifey by Judy Blume; The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison; the photobooks Playboy: Helmut Newton and Playboy: Six Decades of Centerfolds; Naked Lunch by William Burroughs; Incest: From 'A Journal of Love' by Anais Nin; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominque Bauby (2007 Vintage International edition), Maurice by E.M. Forster (2005 Penguin Classics edition).
A groundswell of gay outrage developed over the weekend, primarily on Twitter, when it seemed to become more obvious what was happening. By Sunday evening, Publisher's Weekly was carrying a report in which an Amazon official was quoted as saying it was all just a "glitch" in Amazon's sales ranking feature which "is in the process of being fixed."
hxxp://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6651080.html
But the "glitch" has evidently been going on for a few months, has affected only gay-themed books, and is not yet fixed.
hxxp://www.towleroad.com/2009/04/amazon-deems-gay-books-adult-strips-sales-rankings.html
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That's disgraceful.
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Tasteless indeed. Boo to them.
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Ridiculous !
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Thanks for keeping us aware of what is happening in the larger community. Homosexuals are the last minority it's still okay to discriminate against.
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Amazon just lost all my online shopping business. If they can't play fair for everyone and treat all things that are equal as equal, then they're not worthy of my business. It's sickening to think that companies can actually get away with bullshit like this.
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They have a fulfillment center in Canada. Wouldn't this violate Canadian law?
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It most definitely does. Classifying "gay" in such a manner is treated the same as trying to classify the black community separate from the rest. I wonder if someone were to blow the whistle if there would be repercussions as a result.
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well everyone knows that if a straight person reads gay literature he would become an expert sucker… and a bottom, to boot. that's why it's considered adult literature ??? ::) :cheesy2: :afr:
