Well. This is upsetting (and something to keep an eye on) EDITED WITH ADDITION

From the blog of the Seattle PI:

Amazon under fire for perceived anti-gay policy

Users are angry about a perceived anti-gay policy that removes lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender books from appearing in sales rankings.

a response from Amazon.com Advantage member services...says:

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.

Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Why yes, I have one or two questions. First of all, since when does "gay, lesbian, etc" translate automatically to "adult," meaning (in the context you're using) porn; sex?

I'm hardly an expert but I feel comfortable saying that in gay books, yes there are some porno sex titles but I can't imagine there are more than there are in straight books.

Should you exclude Stephenie Meyer from your lists because someone anonymously hacks out the kind of novel in which buxom redheads with names like "Wylde" are captured by scruffycool pirates; tied to the mast and ravished?

(Of course, for all I know, the books Stephenie Meyer writes are that kind of novel...I just named her because she's near the top of the Amazon lists at the moment and AFAIK, writes "straight" books)

Finally: I was going to say that as someone who's written a "lesbian" novel that couldn't possibly get a higher than "PG-13" rating if it were ever filmed-

Created by OnePlusYou -

See?

-I objected. But then I realized. This is exactly how the MPAA works. They assign ratings with an apparent lack of rhyme or reason, with no consistency and often to fit a political agenda. And famously, violence and killing is acceptable (do you think Grisham or Kellerman are being knocked off the lists?) while gay and lesbian sexuality is not.

Good role model, Amazonians.

ETA:

A "glitch" on Amazon.com has caused the sales rank to be removed from gay- and/or lesbian-themed books by James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and others.

"There was a glitch in our systems and it's being fixed," Amazon's director of corporate communications, Patty Smith, said in an e-mail Sunday.

As of Sunday night, books without rankings included Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room," Vidal's "The City and the Pillar" and Jeanette Winterson's "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit."