American Booksellers Association apologizes, offers reparations over ‘transphobic’ bestseller

The American Booksellers Association has apologized for including what they call an “anti-trans” book in a promotional box sent to 750 bookstores. The organization has now declared that they will be screening all future books for “hate-speech” before sending them out.

In its July box of promotional books, the ABA included copies of Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. The ABA later determined that the book “violated our commitment to equality and inclusion” and “caused harm.” As a result, the organization will now be checking every book they include in their boxes to verify there is no “hate speech” included.

The ABA has yet to outline the process they will use to screen books but will hear proposals and make a decision during their next board meeting later this month.

The ABA has defined hate speech to be “any kind of communication in speech, writing or behavior that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are.”

The ABA did not specifically explain how Shrier’s book exhibits this definition of “hate speech” so gay blog Pink News took it upon themselves to fill in that blank. “The book describes trans identity as ‘a peer contagion among teen girls,’ perpetuating the idea that being trans is inherently harmful to youth,” the leftwing site reported.

However, Pink News’s description seems to be misleading. GoodReads.com describes the book as, “Irreversible Damage is an exploration of a mystery: Why, in the last decade, has the diagnosis ‘gender dysphoria,’ transformed from a vanishingly rare affliction, applying almost exclusively to boys and men, to an epidemic among teenage girls Author Abigail Shrier presents shocking statistics and stories from real families to show that America and the West have become fertile ground for a ‘transgender craze’ that has nothing to do with real gender dysphoria and everything to do with our cultural frailty.”

One reviewer of the book weighed in on the topic claiming that it is not transphobic, but rather shows scientific evidence of a hard truth that some people do not want to know. “Valid scientific criticism and providing a different perspective from what woke activists want you to believe is not transphobic. It treats the subject sensitively and interviews with scientists and medical providers with all sorts of opposing views are presented. It’s worth your time to read it,” the reviewer wrote.

As a type of reparation for their sin, the ABA’s chief executive Alison Hill announced recently that they will be making a $5,000 donation to the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. This activist fund has made it part of their mission to force insurance companies to expand coverage to include the very expensive and extensive transition process for transgendered individuals, including minors.

“The Trans Health Project engages in alternative dispute resolution and policy advocacy to establish positive precedent in priority areas including Medicaid, employee-sponsored health plans, and ending the ongoing categorical exclusions for common surgeries such as facial surgery and chest surgery for transgender minors,” their website says.

This is not the first time Shrier’s book has been condemned by leftists. In November 2020, the same book was banned by Target after the retailer deemed it transphobic. The store removed the book from their website, immediately sparking a backlash. Critics claimed that Target was censoring an opposing viewpoint. As a result, Target reversed its decision as fast as it made it.

“Yesterday, we removed a book from Target.com based on feedback we received,” Target wrote. “We want to offer a broad assortment for our guests and are adding this book back to Target.com. We apologize for any confusion.”

Even back at the time of the book’s publication, it was condemned as transphobic. In August 2020, Jack Turban, a child psychiatrist and self-professed researcher of “trans youth mental health,” tried to discredit Shrier’s book.

Shrier responded to the misinterpretation of her points in a series of tweets. “The essential claim of my book is that most of the teen girls who identify as ‘trans’ suddenly in adolescence are caught in a social current that has little to do with actual gender dysphoria.  This is the sort of claim that ought cause a doctor to pause and examine whether it is true for some or any of these patients. Are girls being fast-tracked to transition? Are docs sure the girls’ desire for transition is motivated principally, if at all, by GD? Because the most important question is whether these girls are being harmed. I believe I lay out a strong case that an unnecessary transition *is* a harm.”