Bookshop Owner Apologises After Calling For ‘White Kids’ On Book Covers And No Rainbow
Image: Susanne Horman. Image: Frankston City Council/ Facebook.
Susanne Horman, owner of Victoria鈥檚 oldest independent bookstore, Robinsons Bookshop, has released three apologies and deleted her X account after a series of tweets published in December 2023 were reposted, receiving negative press and calls for a boycott by the Victorian book community.
The tweets, screenshotted and posted by the Instagram account included Horman calling for more 鈥淧ositive male lead characters of any age, any traditional nuclear white family stories, kids picture books with just white kids on the cover, and no wheelchair, rainbow or indigenous art, non indig (sic) aus history #weneedbetterstories鈥� and calling for less books that feature 鈥渉ate against white Australians, socialist agenda, equity over equality, diversity and inclusion (READ AS anti-white exclusion), left-wing govt propaganda. Basically the woke agenda that divides people.鈥澛�
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Tweets Deleted
The controversy surrounding the now-deleted tweets has also led to allegations from a number of Robinsons鈥� ex-staff members, including who claimed that staff who were 鈥渦ncomfortable selling the Matt Walsh Johnny the Walrus anti-trans book鈥� were advised to 鈥榝ind another job because at Robinsons 鈥渨e don鈥檛 cancel books鈥欌��.
Staff who had wanted to do displays during Pride month were allegedly instructed to use orange instead of a rainbow colour scheme and 鈥渘ot highlight any LGBT books so that 鈥榚veryone鈥� would feel welcome.鈥澛犅�
The Robinsons Books Instagram page has released three responses to the controversy, stating that 鈥淲e sincerely apologise to anyone who has been offended by online comments that are being edited by individuals and posted on social media about Robinsons鈥�, although these allegations of doctoring cannot be substantiated.
Better Stories Stack
While the Wayback Machine has not retained Horman鈥檚 X account, Google searches for the now-deleted account URL did reveal one of the screenshotted tweets verbatim, and another which reads 鈥淐an we have some books like this with a white male lead and no lgbt, no female alpha who takes over the plot… pretty please publishers.鈥澛�
Robinsons鈥� third response to the scandal included an Instagram Reel of stacked books in categories, which, upon closer examination, revealed several inaccuracies including a non-indigenous author in 鈥淚ndigenous titles鈥� and Helen Joyce鈥檚 gender-essentialist title Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, in the 鈥�17c起草社区+ Titles鈥�.
The literary community in Victoria and across Australia have responded to the controversy by sharing pictures of a #betterstoriesstack, featuring diverse representation of authors, characters and communities, and #betterbookshops, in celebration of stores that promote representation and are safe, inclusive and accessible.
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