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Amazon: 'Ham-Fisted Error' Caused Gay Glitch

Company promises to restore gay, lesbian titles to ranking system

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 14, 2009 2:51 AM CDT

(Newser) – Amazon.com says “an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error” caused thousands of gay and lesbian-related titles to be removed from sales rankings and some searches, the New York Times reports. The company—the target of online outrage after the changes came to light—says the "glitch" has now been fixed, although some still doubt it was an error.

"I don’t think for one second that this was a glitch,” said playwright Larry Kramer, who started a petition against the Internet behemoth. “We have to now keep a more diligent eye on Amazon and how they handle the world’s cultural heritage.”

[Images (2)]

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Books on gay marriage and love are sold at A Different Light, a gay and lesbian bookstore in California. A "glitch" at Amazon.com removed gay and lesbian titles from sales rankings. (Getty Images)

Jeff Bezos, chairman and CEO of Amazon.com, unveils the Kindle 2 e-reader Monday, Feb. 9, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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There are mistakes and there are mistakes. At some point in this process, which I don't understand because I'm not a computer genius, the words gay and lesbian were clearly flagged, as well as some kind of porno tag. - author Daniel Mendelsohn

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Amazon: 'Ham-Fisted Error' Caused Gay Glitch