Penguin staff protest decision to publish book by trans critic

STAFF at Penguin Random House have protested its decision to publish a book written by Jordan Peterson, a Canadian clinical psychologist.

Mr Peterson, a psychology professor and self-styled opponent of political correctness, announced on Monday that he was releasing a new book titled Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, which is due to be published in March next year.

Staff confronted management of Penguin Random House Canada at a town hall over the decision, saying that the company should not be giving a platform to Mr Peterson because of his popularity with the far-right.

According to Vice News, the company’s diversity and inclusion committee reportedly received at least 70 anonymous messages about the book from staff, with only “a couple” in favour of the decision to publish.

They claimed that Penguin had been secretive about the future release of Mr Peterson’s book, deliberately keeping it under wraps. One employee said they would have organised a walkout had they known earlier about the book.

Another employee alleged that “people were crying in the meeting about how Mr Peterson has affected their lives”, with one explaining that the author had “radicalised their father” and another insisting the publishing of his book would “negatively affect their non-binary friend”.

“The company since June has been doing all these anti-racist and allyship things and then publishing Peterson’s book completely goes against this.

“It just makes all of their previous efforts seem completely performative,” a staff member told Vice.

It is not thought that Penguin Random House in the UK has complained about the decision to publish Mr Peterson again. It published his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos in 2018.

The debate over self-censorship by publishers has been raging in recent years, and follows Hachette’s decision to drop Woody Allen’s memoir after a staff walkout.

Meanwhile, staff at JK Rowling’s publisher in the UK were told by Hachette that they could not refuse to work on her new children’s book The Ickabog because they disagreed with her views on transgender issues.

Mr Peterson, who has a PHD in clinical psychology and teaches at the University of Toronto, rose to prominence over his controversial views on gender.

He first came to the public’s attention in 2016 when he criticised a Canadian human rights law that he said would violate academic freedom by requiring him to use trans people’s preferred pronouns. Mr Peterson said he would not be forced to use words that, in his view, were invented by activists. In subsequent years, he became a passionate opponent of identity politics, speech policing and cancel culture, and is revered by many young, Right-of-centre men.

He took almost a year out before returning last month, explaining he had been seeking medical treatment for withdrawal symptoms related to his use of benzodiazepine, a drug often used to treat anxiety.

In a statement, Penguin Random House Canada said that it remained “committed to publishing a range of voices and viewpoints”.