Same Old Allstora

Celebrity drag artist Ru Paul is under scrutiny for the sudden removal of conservative titles from Allstora, the online bookstore he co-founded with LGBT historian Eric Cervini and drag performer Adam Powell. Allstora premiered as an “all-inclusive” retail outlet for titles ranging from Gender Queer to Mein Kampf. Ru Paul created the company to provide a “marketplace for all books and all stories, with a focus on elevating marginalized voices.”

Founded in response to the so-called “book bans” in states like Florida, Allstora represents a serious attempt by the celebrity left to plant a flag as champions of free speech in the era of cancel culture. Launched on 4 March, the outlet made a promising debut by offering titles from such forbidden authors as William F. Buckley, Thomas Sowell, Chris Rufo, and that famed bête noire of the radical left, J.K. Rowling.

But no sooner had the online retailer appeared than controversy erupted. In an Instagram post dated 5 March, drag performer “Lady Bunny” condemned the store’s stock choices as objectionable. “Those ain’t MY people, Ru,” fumed Lady Bunny. “I know it really helps the queer community when you can buy right-wing books off of a rainbow bus and pay a drag queen $30 per month for the privilege. And that, my friends, sums up rainbow capitalism.”

The hue and cry raised by Lady Bunny led to accusations that Allstora was promoting “transphobic,” “homophobic” and “Nazi” material. Within three days, Allstora modified not only its featured line-up but also its mission statement. The company has revised its FAQ page  and Allstora no longer maintains the inclusive pledge to “sell all books.” In addition to these modifications, the retailer has introduced a “community-led flagging system” intended to “mitigate the potential harm” of specific books. The results are telling.

In addition to titles by the aforementioned Buckley, Sowell and Rufo, Allstora stocks conservative books like What is Marriage? by Sherif Girgis and The Genesis of Gender by Christian author Abigail Favale. These token offerings of titles from the political right must now do service for the contemporary titles now no longer available. You cannot buy books by Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Matt Walsh, Riley Gaines and Bill O’Reilly on Allstora. Predictably, LGBT-critical titles such as Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage and works such as You Weren’t Born That Way and The Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality are conspicuously absent. Anti-abortion books like Little Lives Matter are also unavailable.

Allstora has removed many titles following complaints on social media–a practice likely to continue, given the success of Lady Bunny’s calls for censorship. What is not clear is the extent to which concern for social media outrage drove creation of Allstora’s philanthropic initiative called “Rainbow Book Bus.” An actual bus will be making a cross-country trip this year distributing “diverse books to communities facing book bans and censorship, especially in LGBTQ+ communities.”

Allstora began with a laudable mission–that of providing an array of books representing a spectrum of different lifestyles, political and religious beliefs. But an online outcry deflected that trajectory within mere days. This presents an opportunity for reflection in these pages, where we have previously written on cancel culture, censorship and online mobbing of books and authors. The tale of Allstora is instructive.

The ease and speed with which the store’s mission to be “all inclusive” fell apart speaks to the context of the mission itself. Missions typically have a moral framework as an underpinning. The Catholic Church, for example, sets its mission within the context of a Christian moral framework. The United States, by contrast, expresses its mission within the secular moral framework of its excellent Constitution. So, in what context does Allstora’s mission belong?

That the queen of drag queens would be in favor of free expression seems a foregone conclusion. And the presence of an LGBT historian would seem to cement any such a commitment by dint of the time honored Western tradition of academic free expression. But free expression itself provides insufficient grounds for a mission unless a broader moral framework protects it.

What, then, is Allstora’s moral guiding star? I would submit that it is a vaguely defined form of Woke (or “progressive liberalism,” if you prefer), the moral fibre of which has proven itself demonstrably weak.

In the era of social media, mob rule holds sway. Rather than adhere to principles, Allstora sacrificed its promising mission  to the online mob. In so doing, they proved that the values of Woke are fundamentally at odds with the West’s core value of free expression.