Will Jeff Bezos and Amazon Put Billions of Dollars of Federal Contracts at Risk Over Gender Ideology?

“The Woke Fever Broke, So Why Is Bezos Still Banning Ryan Anderson’s Book On Transgenderism?” That’s the title of an excellent piece today by my Ethics and Public Policy Center colleague Nathanael Blake. As you may know, Ryan Anderson is my successor as EPPC president (and thus boss to both Nathanael and me). As Nathanael recounts, Amazon banned Ryan’s book from its marketplace in early 2021 and gave a false reason for doing so. (Amazon falsely claimed that Ryan’s book “frame[s] LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.”)

Jeff Bezos and Amazon now have billions of reasons—billions of dollars in federal government contracts—to reverse course and to make recompense to Ryan. President Trump’s executive order on “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares the “biological reality of sex”: There are “two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

Trump’s executive order directs every agency in the executive branch to impose “requirements on federally funded entities, including contractors, to achieve the policy of this order.” So the Department of Defense and other agencies that Amazon contracts with might well impose requirements that disqualify contractors who discriminate against individuals on the ground that the individuals recognize the biological reality of sex that Trump’s executive order proclaims.

To be sure, Amazon has a First Amendment right to dispute the biological reality of sex and probably also to refuse to sell books that express views on the matter that it disagrees with. (I say probably only because its immense market power might complicate the inquiry.) Whether that also means that it can’t be disqualified as a federal contractor for doing so is a different question. Let’s assume that Amazon banned books that promoted racial equality. Would the First Amendment prevent federal agencies from disqualifying contractors who discriminate against individuals who promote racial equality? If not, is that only because of the compelling federal interest in combating racism? Or might the strong federal interest in combating the damage to females that results from transgender ideology lead to a similar answer?

In any event, are Bezos and Amazon foolish enough to want to take this risk? Why won’t they simply acknowledge that they have acted abusively against Ryan and begin to make amends?

Addendum (2:15 pm): On Inauguration Day, Ryan tweeted out the question “Does this mean Amazon will be selling my book again?” I’m pleased to see that Andrew Ferguson, the new chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, responded today to Ryan with “Great question!” Amazon faces a pending lawsuit by the FTC and 17 state attorneys general over its alleged misuse of monopoly power. Perhaps a new count should be added to the complaint.