The American Booksellers Association (ABA) released an apology on Wednesday after including "Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters" by Abigail Shrier in its July mailing for its members.
In the apology, ABA said the inclusion of the book was a "serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s ends policies, values, and everything we believe and support. It is inexcusable":
"An anti-trans book was included in our July mailing to members. This is a serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s ends policies, values, and everything we believe and support. It is inexcusable. We apologize to our trans members and to the trans community for this terrible incident and the pain we caused them. We also apologize to the LGBTQIA+ community at large, and to our bookselling community. Apologies are not enough. 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."
Shrier's book examines the sudden surge in young girls identifying as transgender that began in the 2010s:
"Until just a few years ago, gender dysphoria—severe discomfort in one’s biological sex—was vanishingly rare. It was typically found in less than .01 percent of the population, emerged in early childhood, and afflicted males almost exclusively.
"But today whole groups of female friends in colleges, high schools, and even middle schools across the country are coming out as 'transgender.' These are girls who had never experienced any discomfort in their biological sex until they heard a coming-out story from a speaker at a school assembly or discovered the internet community of trans 'influencers.'"
Despite the apology, some users on Twitter said ABA had done serious harm to the trans community while others called the ABA wannabe book burners for apologizing for the simple act of including a best-selling book that offended some people:
If there were a Hall of Fame for capitulations to Woke bullies, the American Booksellers Association is hereby inducted.
— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) July 15, 2021
The "serious, violent incident" they perpetrated? Including my book in a large box of new book samples sent out to independent booksellers. https://t.co/SgnKvPy4AU
The book burners are the bad guys. Just FYI.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 15, 2021
"Something violent happened!!! (Because we did a violent thing) We will spend the next three weeks hoping you forget we did the violent thing!!! Please read this apology and forget that it took many, many people & many decisions to do the violent thing." - the ABA
— ?????? ??room of one's own bookstore???????? (@RoomofOnesOwn) July 14, 2021
It has transphobic language plainly on the cover. Boilerplate corporate speak won't cut it. Someone made this decision and someone approved it, likely more than a few. This didn't happen on accident, this was deliberate and calculated.
— The Longest Rose (@LongestRose) July 14, 2021
Fixed it for you ?? pic.twitter.com/TCKGl2owwo
— thembot (@TheAndiJ) July 15, 2021
Not buying it. This doesn’t slip through the cracks.
— Insert pun here. ?????? (@Generic_Bi) July 14, 2021
Hell, just look at the “appearing on” and you’ll see nothing but red flags for transphobia. pic.twitter.com/lTc3bMcEfx
LIVE FEED FROM ABA CORPORATE DIVERSITY/INCLUSIVITY/SENSITIVITY TRAINING SEMINAR: https://t.co/sut0Eha8XB pic.twitter.com/g5KATtbbIB
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) July 15, 2021
Printing the name of a book someone may not like or agree with is not a "violent incident." https://t.co/PuQ1iTOaSd
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) July 15, 2021
The only thing that tops the insanity of this statement is the insanity in the replies to this statement. https://t.co/eJfhrnBBU7
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) July 15, 2021
Join the conversation as a VIP Member