Amazon.com has enjoyed its share of backlash from gays thanks to the sudden classification of queer books as porn and the apparent (temporary) de-listing of GLBT titles from search listings. Now, a new cause for concern: The company’s much-hyped Kindle doesn’t have its own gay section for book buyers.
An astute reader asks Queerty, “Did you know that there is no Gay & Lesbian category on the Kindle bookstore page of Amazon?” Actually, no, we didn’t! And we’ve bought books on there before. (We’re in the middle of Sag Harbor.)
But it turns out to be true.
Amazon breaks down its print-version books by categories like Arts & Photography, Health, Mind & Body, Parenting & Families, and Science Fiction & Fantasy. Also among those categories? Gay & Lesbian.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
But hop on over to the Kindle storefront and you’ll find listings by Arts & Entertainment, Parenting & Families, Religion & Spirituality, and Science Fiction. Not making the list? Gay & Lesbian.
To be sure, not every book is available on Kindle, which also means many gay books aren’t downloadable. But surely, some gay books must be available for purchase?
Indeed. And that includes books like Heather Has Two Mommies, The Well of Loneliness, and Running With Scissors — all books that were affected by the “these gay books are porn” scandal. And yet, no special section on Amazon.com is devoted to gay and lesbian tomes for the Kindle. (Though there appears to be one on the device’s bookstore.)
All the more surprising, since as we know, gays love their technology.
Whew, overreacting is fun!
Fitz
It’s simply untrue. I have my kindle in front of me right now, on the gay section.
Jeremy
I’m looking at the page on my Kindle (click Menu, select Shop in Kindle Store, select Books), and there’s no “Gay and Lesbian” section in the list of book categories. But I don’t think this is really a slight against queers–I think they were just trying to keep the category list down to one page.
Pete
There is a gay section; it’s a subcategory under “Lifestyle and Home.” Click on the “Lifestyle and Home” link on the page you’re referring to and you’ll find a Gay & Lesbian section with an amazing selection of 305 books.
Donald
Quit over reacting. You can find them by searching. Like Jeremy said, they were probably trying to keep it at one page and not an intentional slight against the GLBT community.
queerunity
I see it under lifestyle & home.
http://queersunited.blogspot.com
Taylor Siluwé
As an author with a book available on Kindle, I don’t know if this is over-reacting. And if it is, over-reacting is what our community does best. It keeps us, and everyone else, on their toes.
All hail the overly sensitive. 🙂
Alexa
[img]http://tinypic.com/r/2l2ydw/5[/img]
Unless Amazon is censoring parents and families, poker players, and people who eat, I would say you are overreacting, definitely 😉
(hoping the add picture thingy works, never tried it before)
Alexa
[img]http://i40.tinypic.com/2l2ydw.jpg[/img]
Maybe this will work
osocubano
Never mind!
Michael W.
I just tried it on my Kindle iPhone app.
You go to
-> Categories
-> Lifestyle & Home
-> Filter More
-> By Category
and Gay & Lesbian is listed there with Cooking Food & Wine, Home & Garden, Parenting & Families, Poker, Puzzles & Games.
You don’t have to dig that deep for Cooking Food & Wine, and Parenting & Families and Home & Garden. They’re also right there under Categories. But I think that’s because they have about 5,000 books in their categories each vs. only 305 for Gay & Lesbian. The categories with the most books get more prominently displayed.
That’s how it is under the iPhone version of the Kindle Store. Not sure if it’s the same for the Kindle itself or online.
Max
You can also go to Fiction, then “Genre Fiction”, where you’ll find 1,474 gay and lesbian titles.
Stop fussing! There’s no “Straight” section, either.
Alex
I’ve always found it a bit odd that there are always gay and lesbian sections. I understand ‘mos wanting books where they can see people like them, but so do black Americans, Jews, deaf persons, etc. And they are able to find those books.
I always kind of got the sense (or maybe this is me projecting my insecurity) that this was more for the sake of straight people, who didn’t want to rent an innocuously titled film like Summer Storm and–gross!–be exposed to affection between people of the same gender.
AndTom
and there is no white history month
Jackson
This post is a great example of Queerty’s unbalanced view of LGBT news. This website was quick to criticize Amazon for an apparent technical snafu that caused LGBT books to disappear on the website. In fact, they (or is it he?) called for a boycott.
From A Queerty posting: “It seems the onus is on Amazon, to answer for the de-ranking and until they do– and frankly, at this point an explanation beyond “it was a glitch” is necessary– the boycott should continue.”
A week or so later, Queerty was touting the release of the latest version of Kindle without even mentioning that they had called for a boycott of the company that created the Kindle.
Considering I haven’t read that Queerty has abandoned it’s call for a boycott of Amazon, I find it remarkable that they promote the Kindle. Additionally, they continue to use it (as written above).
MR
@Jackson: This is why newspapers will never ever fully go away; blogs simply aren’t willing to – or capable of? – fully research their stories in the way true journalists are obliged to do.
SaintCahier
Remember the story of the boy who cried “wolf” ?
Stephen
This is the last straw, I’m officially unsubscribing from the RS feed and don’t plan on returning.
CHECK YOUR STORY BEFORE YOU POST IT. This is common sense, but it’s apparent that you at Queerty do not have any of it.
Marco
My book it is now listed in:
Books > Gay & Lesbian > Travel
Books > Literature & Fiction > Erotica
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Erotica
http://www.amazon.com/0-0-Dating-Travel-Stories-ebook/dp/B006HM9SAS/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1322989078&sr=8-9
Martin Cosgrove
Okay well this is interesting. I just published my first novel to the Kindle store. It’s called The Destiny of Ethan King and has a gay protagonist. Although it’s listed in the ‘fantasy’ category, I have tagged it with ‘gay’ and ‘gay interest’. I sure hope Amazon is not discriminating in that way.