Sydney council reverses ban on same-sex parenting books amid controversial debate

After a prolonged late-night meeting, a contentious ban on same-sex parenting books in libraries in parts of western Sydney, Australia, has been overturned following clashes between large crowds of protesters outside the council chambers.

Cumberland city councillors voted 13-2 in front of a packed public gallery on Wednesday night to rescind the ban, which had been in place for two weeks.

As ‘The Guardian’ rites, the council’s reversal came after widespread backlash and a warning from the NSW government that Cumberland might lose its library funding.

On 1 May, councillors had narrowly voted to “take immediate action to rid same-sex parents books/materials in council’s library service”.

During that session, the councillor who introduced the motion, former mayor Steve Christou, displayed a book he claimed had received “really disturbing” complaints from constituents, with parents reportedly “distraught” to see the book, A Focus On: Same-Sex Parents by Holly Duhig, in the children’s section of the library.

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At the heated meeting on Wednesday, Christou tried to restrict same-sex parenting books to the adult section of the library. When that failed, his colleague in the Our Local Community party, Paul Garrard, attempted to impose the same restriction exclusively on Duhig’s book.

Ultimately, all but two councillors supported a motion proposed by Labor’s Kun Huang to reverse the ban and ensure all books were catalogued according to national library guidelines, including placing Duhig’s book in the junior non-fiction section.

Eddy Sarkis was the only councillor to support Christou.

Labor councillor Mohamad Hussein, who originally voted for the ban, changed his vote at the last minute. When asked by journalists, Hussein declined to comment on why he changed his mind.

A substantial police presence was noted as two large crowds held competing protests outside the council building in Merrylands, beginning before the 6.30pm meeting.

The group Pride in Protest led the rally against the book ban, with signs saying “Hate is not a family value” and “Bigotry has no place in Cumberland”. Members of the Maritime Union of Australia joined them under a rainbow banner.

Supporters of the ban carried a large banner reading “Leave the kids alone” and other signs like “Chris Minns is a grub”. The premier had described the ban as “ridiculous”.

Riot squad officers positioned themselves between the two protesting groups, who shouted chants like “Bigotry is not welcome here” and “fuck off back to Newtown”.

The sound of shouting and chanting outside was audible inside the chambers for much of the meeting, which lasted over four hours.

By 10pm, most of the crowds had dispersed. Inside, the debate continued with high tensions among councillors.

Seventeen individuals addressed the meeting, including local grandmother Caroline Staples, who presented two petitions to the council, one organised through Equality Australia and signed by more than 41,000 people.

Christou pointed out that only 2400 of the signatories were Cumberland residents.

Addressing the assembly, former Liberal MP Craig Kelly referenced former U.S.A. president John F Kennedy, suggesting parents should decide if their children could read same-sex parenting books.

Local librarian Julie Thomas expressed surprise that councillors had imposed the ban without consulting experienced library staff.

“Is a book’s innocuous cover enough to determine its offensiveness?” she questioned. “If the offensive topic is sex, has anyone considered how empty the shelves will be?”

The mayor, Lisa Lake, expelled several people for interruptions. One man shouted “disgraceful atheists” as he left.

On May 1, councillors had voted 6-5 to implement the ban after a debate on their libraries strategy, with three councillors absent.

Deputy mayor Ola Hamed abstained from voting at the earlier meeting, citing death threats following a previous debate about drag story time.

On Wednesday, she voted to overturn the book ban.

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