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A suburban Sydney council chambers has become the battleground for two warring groups after a decision to ban books featuring same-sex parenting.
Two groups of about 100 each gathered outside the Cumberland city council building in Merrylands on Wednesday night, one calling for the book to be returned to library shelves and the other arguing its content amounted to a moral sin.
The council covers a diverse population of about 240,000 people living near Parramatta.
Members narrowly voted in May to “take immediate action to rid same-sex parents books/materials in council’s library service”. During the meeting, the councillor who put forward the motion, former mayor Steve Christou, brandished a book he alleged had received “really disturbing” constituent complaints, saying parents were “distraught” to see the book, A Focus On: Same-Sex Parents by Holly Duhig, displayed on a shelf in the children’s section of the library.
The council on Wednesday heard a number of community voices as it debated whether to rescind the same-sex parenting book ban.
Protesters from warring sides yelled over the top of one other for hours with young families, couples and students turning up with placards and flags in hand. One placard read: “Hate is not a family value.”
Local couple Sandy and Ady Fitter said it was important for their children, aged three and six months, to grow up in a community where they were accepted.
“Diversity is our strength,” Fitter said. “If you don’t want to read the book, then don’t read it.
“Keep your views at home if they’re hateful.”
Pride in Protest rally organisers have called for the council to rescind the ban and for the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, to expel Labor council members who supported it.
The Pride in Protest spokesperson Wei Thai-Haynes said books that depicted rainbow families, or drag performers reading stories, were “a normal part of life and not ‘indoctrination’ or ‘sexualising children’”.
Counter-protesters, meanwhile, held placards demanding the council “leave our kids alone”.
“Stop demoralising kids. Sodomy is a sin,” read another.
Chants of “pee back off to Newtown” rang out.
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The Anti-Discrimination NSW president, Helen McKenzie, has said diversity should be represented in the books available to the community.
“For rainbow families living in the Cumberland council area, this is a hurtful and divisive act which impacts them and their children,” she told reporters last week.
The NSW arts minister, John Graham, said banning books was a bad sign for civilisations, adding local councillors should not engage in censorship.
“We are examining the consequences this decision may have for the council continuing to receive library funding from the NSW government,” he said.
Five copies of the book A Focus On: Same Sex Parents have been in the council’s libraries since 2019.
The book is part of a series that aims to inform children about “difficult realities” and “healthy ways for children to process and understand them”.
Christou said the community wanted the book banned.
“I’m only representing the values of our community and what the majority of people are telling us … we’re not marginalising anyone here,” he said.
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