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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.”
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