Locals and the State Government have hit back at a move by Cumberland Council to ban same-sex literature in local libraries.
And even library staff are bewildered by the decision, with one staff member telling Parra News: “I would like our LGBTQI community to know that the library staff are appalled and deeply saddened by this decision.”
The staff member, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “This was not our choice. Our libraries are places where everyone is welcome and every type of family is safe with us. We will always do our best for you all.”
It comes as New South Wales Premier Chris Minns slammed the ban, driven by Councillor and former Mayor Steve Christou.
“It seems to me to be engineered by one of these Councillors because there’s an election coming up. What a joke,” Minns said.
“[Christou] should trust his own citizens enough to walk into a library and read whatever the hell they want.”
At the latest meeting, Cumberland Council voted on a new library strategy, with an amendment put forward by Christou.
The amendment called for immediate action to rid same-sex parents books in Council’s library service.
It passed, with Our Local Community Councillors Christou, Paul Garrard and Helen Hughes, and Independents Michael Zaiter and Greg Cummings all voting in favour of the ban.
Labor Councillor Mohammad Hussein also voted for the amendment.
The Councillors who voted against it were Mayor and Labor Councillor Lisa Lake, as well as Labor’s Diane Colman, Glenn Elmore, Kun Huang and Suman Saha.
Christou said he had received “very disturbing complaints from distraught local parents” regarding a same-sex parent book that was found in the kids section of a local library.
“This is not Marrickville or Newton, this is Cumberland City Council and we need to respect the wishes of our residents,” he said.
“It is imperative that we take a stand, our community don’t want this, I never want these on our library shelves and I hope we can respect the wishes of our community and protect our kids, who shouldn’t be exposed to sexualised behaviour through same-sex parents books.
“Hands off our kids.”
Following the voting of the amendment, Colman said she will be putting in a recission motion at the next Council Meeting to revoke the book ban.
“There is no way that censorship is acceptable in our community anywhere at all,” she added.
“I’m disgusted, I feel sorry for all those poor women who run the libraries and do such good work for our community. I just can’t even believe that you could have done this.”
After news of the book ban broke, NSW Arts Minister John Graham warned that the decision could affect the local Council’s ability to continue to receive State funding.
“When civilisations turn to burning books or banning books it is a very bad sign. That is equally true for local Councils,” he said.
“It should not be up to local Councillors to make that choice for them or engage in censorship.
“We are examining the consequences this decision may have for the Council continuing to receive library funding from the NSW Government.”
NSW Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Heritage Penny Sharpe also condemned the ban in a post shared to X (formerly Twitter).
“Supporting families is one of the best things Local, State and Federal Governments can do. Banning books about families is one of the worst things,” she said.
“Cumberland Council, time to reverse this decision.”
A petition has since been started online by a local resident, urging Council to rescind the book ban.
“My local Council, Cumberland Council, passed a motion that made me fear for the safety of the rainbow families in our community and the future cohesion of our community,” the petition said.
“Our area welcomes people of all backgrounds and beliefs, we’re not about banning books just because someone does not like who is in them.”
The book ban comes after the same Council banned drag story time events being held at Council facilities across the Local Government Area (LGA) earlier this year, despite there being no plans to hold any such events.
The petition is at www.equalityaustralia.org.au/our-work/areas-of-work/cumberland-council.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other projects.