Amazon Employees Call On Amazon To Stop Selling All Books Deemed As Anti-Trans
By Mariella Moon
Article / Archive [ https://archive.ph/2PRiC ]
In 2021, a handful of Amazon employees quit the company over its decision to sell books that suggest kids who identify as transgender are mentally ill. Now, a group of employees is protesting its continued sale of those books by disrupting a Pride event at its headquarters in Seattle. According to The Washington Post, around 30 members of the organization No Hate at Amazon laid on the ground wrapped in trans flags to stop the company's annual Pride flag-raising tradition. An organizer said: "Amazon does have standing policies against hate speech in its content and technically they say we don't sell it." But in truth, those contentious books are still listed on its website.
© Miguel Sotomayor via Getty Images
Transgender flag in the LGTB Pride Parade in Valencia, Spain.
Tweet Link / Archive
Tweet Link 2 / Archive
In a petition [A] the group previously circulated to get Amazon to stop selling anti-trans books, it specifically named two titles: Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier and Johnny the Walrus by American conservative political commentator Matt Walsh. "By continuing to sell and promote anti-trans books and repeating the rhetoric of the anti-trans hate movement, Amazon upper management has allowed the store that we build and operate to be complicit in [the anti-trans] hate movement," the petition reads.
At least one employee who participated in the event quit the company this week. Senior software engineer Lina Jodoin explained that it's more than just about the sale of those books, but also about the response they've gotten from management when they tried to escalate their concerns. And based on the company's response to the protest, it will keep on selling those titles.
Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser told The Post in a statement:
DIRECT TRANSCRIPT:
"We, the workers of Amazon, call on Amazon to reject hate.
Amazon has established a pattern of platforming and profiting from hate. Most recently, Amazon has started selling hateful books that attack transgender youth and has shockingly classified and promoted them as bestsellers in the LGBTQ+ category. Amazon workers, especially in the trans and LGBTQ+ community, are pushing to remove these books and others like them because they are directly hurting our community. However, Amazon has not only continued to sell them, but is still promoting them as top results for transgender search terms.
These books are one tactic used by a broader anti-transgender hate movement that in 2021 pushed a record breaking amount of anti-trans legislation targeted at minors and their access to lifesaving gender-affirming medical care. Last year murders and violence against transgender people increased to record highs. When Amazon stopped selling an anti-trans book early last year, radical, bigoted pundits and politicians disingenuously claimed Amazon taking action against hate was “an assault on free speech” and “censorship”. This is not a free speech or censorship issue. Companies like Amazon have a responsibility and legal right to set and enforce content guidelines to prevent hate and abuse.
Following this coordinated backlash, Amazon upper management refused to engage with workers about subsequent anti-trans books. They refused to elaborate on the decision-making process. They refused to resolve the inconsistency between these books and their content policy. In response to workers’ protests, they deflected with talking points about “censorship” and the “marketplaces of ideas”.
By continuing to sell and promote anti-trans books and repeating the rhetoric of the anti-trans hate movement, Amazon upper management has allowed the store that we build and operate to be complicit in this hate movement. This has created a hostile work environment that has forced many trans workers to take medical leave or resign. This is not the first time that Amazon upper management has dismissed concerns from marginalized or oppressed groups. Their actions create a workplace which forces members of those communities to choose between their health and their jobs. Amazon’s continued lack of action on hate leaves the door open to platforming even more hate and further abuse.
In response, we are organizing a worker-led movement to stop hate at Amazon and prevent this abuse from ever happening again. We imagine a better future in which Amazon empowers workers with actual influence over the policies, products, and content that impact us in order to protect all marginalized communities and oppressed groups.
We call on Amazon to:
• Stop hate at Amazon: Stop selling the anti-trans hate books Irreversible Damage and Johnny the Walrus.
• Establish an elected workers’ oversight board which:
○ Includes and collectively advocates for workers from marginalized communities and oppressed groups.
○ Exercises powers including rejecting and reclassifying content.
○ Communicates openly about decisions and justifications.
○ Implementation details of this board must be approved democratically by signers of this petition.
We invite all employee groups and workers to speak up and unite with us to stop all forms of hate at Amazon.
SIGN THE PETITION [A] "
I like how they couldn't even wait a few days into their very special month to start with absurd demands.
I do often wonder if they'll ever realize that if tranny brain ever does get officially omitted as a mental illness, it would also lead to state-funded medical insurance (i.e. Medicaid) most likely not covering their "life-saving gender affirming surgeries" anymore, since they wouldn't be deemed absolutely necessary for the patient. But then I remember that of course they don't realize that, because if they had any inkling of foresight at all, they wouldn't be trooning out in the first place.
By Mariella Moon
Article / Archive [ https://archive.ph/2PRiC ]
In 2021, a handful of Amazon employees quit the company over its decision to sell books that suggest kids who identify as transgender are mentally ill. Now, a group of employees is protesting its continued sale of those books by disrupting a Pride event at its headquarters in Seattle. According to The Washington Post, around 30 members of the organization No Hate at Amazon laid on the ground wrapped in trans flags to stop the company's annual Pride flag-raising tradition. An organizer said: "Amazon does have standing policies against hate speech in its content and technically they say we don't sell it." But in truth, those contentious books are still listed on its website.
© Miguel Sotomayor via Getty Images
Transgender flag in the LGTB Pride Parade in Valencia, Spain.
Tweet Link / Archive
Tweet Link 2 / Archive
In a petition [A] the group previously circulated to get Amazon to stop selling anti-trans books, it specifically named two titles: Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier and Johnny the Walrus by American conservative political commentator Matt Walsh. "By continuing to sell and promote anti-trans books and repeating the rhetoric of the anti-trans hate movement, Amazon upper management has allowed the store that we build and operate to be complicit in [the anti-trans] hate movement," the petition reads.
At least one employee who participated in the event quit the company this week. Senior software engineer Lina Jodoin explained that it's more than just about the sale of those books, but also about the response they've gotten from management when they tried to escalate their concerns. And based on the company's response to the protest, it will keep on selling those titles.
Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser told The Post in a statement:
"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 values and corporate positions. We believe that it’s possible to do both – to offer a broad range of viewpoints in our bookstore, and support diversity, equity, and inclusion."
DIRECT TRANSCRIPT:
"We, the workers of Amazon, call on Amazon to reject hate.
Amazon has established a pattern of platforming and profiting from hate. Most recently, Amazon has started selling hateful books that attack transgender youth and has shockingly classified and promoted them as bestsellers in the LGBTQ+ category. Amazon workers, especially in the trans and LGBTQ+ community, are pushing to remove these books and others like them because they are directly hurting our community. However, Amazon has not only continued to sell them, but is still promoting them as top results for transgender search terms.
These books are one tactic used by a broader anti-transgender hate movement that in 2021 pushed a record breaking amount of anti-trans legislation targeted at minors and their access to lifesaving gender-affirming medical care. Last year murders and violence against transgender people increased to record highs. When Amazon stopped selling an anti-trans book early last year, radical, bigoted pundits and politicians disingenuously claimed Amazon taking action against hate was “an assault on free speech” and “censorship”. This is not a free speech or censorship issue. Companies like Amazon have a responsibility and legal right to set and enforce content guidelines to prevent hate and abuse.
Following this coordinated backlash, Amazon upper management refused to engage with workers about subsequent anti-trans books. They refused to elaborate on the decision-making process. They refused to resolve the inconsistency between these books and their content policy. In response to workers’ protests, they deflected with talking points about “censorship” and the “marketplaces of ideas”.
By continuing to sell and promote anti-trans books and repeating the rhetoric of the anti-trans hate movement, Amazon upper management has allowed the store that we build and operate to be complicit in this hate movement. This has created a hostile work environment that has forced many trans workers to take medical leave or resign. This is not the first time that Amazon upper management has dismissed concerns from marginalized or oppressed groups. Their actions create a workplace which forces members of those communities to choose between their health and their jobs. Amazon’s continued lack of action on hate leaves the door open to platforming even more hate and further abuse.
In response, we are organizing a worker-led movement to stop hate at Amazon and prevent this abuse from ever happening again. We imagine a better future in which Amazon empowers workers with actual influence over the policies, products, and content that impact us in order to protect all marginalized communities and oppressed groups.
We call on Amazon to:
• Stop hate at Amazon: Stop selling the anti-trans hate books Irreversible Damage and Johnny the Walrus.
• Establish an elected workers’ oversight board which:
○ Includes and collectively advocates for workers from marginalized communities and oppressed groups.
○ Exercises powers including rejecting and reclassifying content.
○ Communicates openly about decisions and justifications.
○ Implementation details of this board must be approved democratically by signers of this petition.
We invite all employee groups and workers to speak up and unite with us to stop all forms of hate at Amazon.
SIGN THE PETITION [A] "
I like how they couldn't even wait a few days into their very special month to start with absurd demands.
I do often wonder if they'll ever realize that if tranny brain ever does get officially omitted as a mental illness, it would also lead to state-funded medical insurance (i.e. Medicaid) most likely not covering their "life-saving gender affirming surgeries" anymore, since they wouldn't be deemed absolutely necessary for the patient. But then I remember that of course they don't realize that, because if they had any inkling of foresight at all, they wouldn't be trooning out in the first place.
