New Zealand book retailers Paper Plus and Mighty Ape have succumbed to pressure by radical activists to withdraw two books from sale that discuss rapid onset gender dysphoria, described as an “epidemic of youth coming out as trans due to social contagion and mental illness”.

The books in question are Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters by Abigail Shrier and When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment by Ryan T. Anderson.

Waikato University psychology lecturer Dr Jaimie Veale said books like those promoted fear and hatred of transgender people.

“This puts us at serious risk of worsening this stigma, discrimination, and violence. I haven’t read these books, but I can see with a title like ‘the transgender craze seducing our daughters’ that this sort of work is clearly designed to promote fear, hatred, and extremist anti-transgender views, at an already marginalised group,” Veale said.

Instead of engaging with the ideas and presenting evidence for such claims, activists call for cancellation and censorship. Unfortunately, this time they were successful, robbing parents, carers, policy makers and politicians of the opportunity to discuss both sides of the debate from an informed point of view.

Binary spokeswoman, Kirralie Smith, said the hypocrisy is extreme.

“Veale admits she hasn’t read the books, yet demands they be withdrawn in case they contain offensive material. This is extreme intolerance in the name of tolerance. There is absolutely no evidence of hatred or fear in these books. The only extremists here are the ones who refuse to acknowledge the evidence and to debate the facts.