Is Amazon Censoring LGBT Books?

It has been brought to our attention that hundreds of gay,lesbian, and trans books simultaneously lost their sales rankings yesterday. Bringing into question whether there is a campaign to suppress LGBT themed books?

This prompted many Amazon users, authors, and purchasers of LGBT literature to contact the company. It seems many books simply about being transgender, or a college guide for LGBT students is being deemed "erotic"?

Amazon has taken the rankings off of many books in "erotica" categories. The question is why are they deeming so many non-erotica LGBT based books as offensive? While they still have ratings available on such books as Playboy centerfolds which clearly is in a different category than many of the books that are being targeted.

Use their express customer service form to voice your complaint or call 1-800-201-7575.

Survey of LGBT Readers and Public Libraries

Dr. John Pruitt, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County has been given a grant by the American Library Association to research how libraries can better serve their LGBT populations within their respective communities. If you don't mind answering a few questions to help out, you will be doing this professor and the LGBT community a service.

Click to participate in LGBT Readers & Public Libraries Survey

Open Forum: Queer Bookworms

We take for granted how easy it is for most of us to access queer fiction as well as non-fiction today. There was a time when LGBTQI people craved books solely about their lives but they came up empty handed when perusing the shelves. Even today there are very few books out there for people who are asexual, intersexual, or queer. We also do face some struggles at certain libraries and bookstores who refuse to carry queer lit for a host of reasons including religious objections, or on the grounds that the book is sexually oriented.

Even in the face of opposition to queer literature many bookstores and libraries are carrying books with topics of interest to sexual and gender minorities. The internet is also a great way to access information or to purchase an obscure book you wouldn't normally find. We also often have trendy gay bookstores within urban centers that specifically carry themes we want and many LGBT centers have a library or stack of books where one can take out a book free of charge.

So, what are your favorite queer books and why? Any good recommendations?