“We’ve flagged this book as contrary to our core values. All proceeds from this title will go toward protecting diverse literature and marginalized communities from book bans through the Rainbow Book Bus.”
Abigail Shrier has a new book out, but you won't find it at RuPaul's Allstora online book shop, because that book has apparently been banned. When Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up was first released, it was available on Allstora, albeit with a note. Now, it's just gone.
"Aren’t adults sick and tired of being told what they shouldn’t read?" Shrier asked in response
"With the help of our community," a note read when the book first appeared for sale on the site, "we've flagged this book as contrary to our core values. All proceeds from this title will go toward protecting diverse literature and marginalized communities from book bans through the Rainbow Book Bus."
The Rainbow Book Bus is an LGBTQ bookmobile that is planning a cross-country book tour in the spring where they'll be "partnering with local LGBTQ+ organizations to distribute books and highlight the amazing work these orgs are doing in their communities." They focus on schools and libraries and their site touts LGBTQ mental health services, talks about how "representation matters," and sites the Trevor Project's numbers for self-reported statistics on trans and suicide.
When Allstora said that Shrier's book went against their core values, that is what they meant. Shrier's book is a deep discussion about talk therapy, social-emotional learning, and gentle parenting, all of which Shrier posits may be leading to bad outcomes for our children. As cases of mental illness among America's children keep rising, and more and more emphasis is placed on mental health, it's believed to be the children and parents are the problem. But what if it's actually the mental health industry and mental health providers who are causing the gravest damage? It is those in the mental health industry who are often the gateway into divergent gender identities, which can lead to drugs and surgeries.
This is not a question Allstora thinks should be answered, apparently. And so in response, they removed the book from their store after issuing a testament on their dedication to banned books.
RuPaul announced on Instagram that he co-founded Allstora and that the store is "moving the conversation forward."
"Allstora is supporting authors," he said in the announcement, "it is supporting you, all voices everywhere. This is a platform that I am in love with, because the conversation needs to move forward, it really does, through books, through conversations, through community."
Allstora has four sections under the community page on its site, including sexual identity, gender identity, racial identity, and other identities. Each of these headings contains many more communities, such as the "sexual identities" of asexual, bisexual gay, lesbian, queer, and pansexual. Gender identities include agender, gender non-conforming, intersex, non-binary, transgender, two-spirit and woman. Man is not among those listed. Racial identity stops at Asian, black, indigenous, Latinx, and Middle Eastern, without a tab for white. Disabled and neurodiverse round out the communities listed under "other identities."
Shrier's previous book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, was controversial in that it questioned the trans narrative. This was believed by trans activists to be an attack on trans and the "gender affirming" model that is so pervasive in the United States. This model states that if a child says they believe themselves to be the opposite sex, parents and mental health professionals should simply go along with them and do everything they can to medically transition them into appearing and presenting as the opposite sex.
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