Australians are divided after a western Sydney council banned books about same-sex parents from its libraries.
Cumberland City Council, which covers a population of about 240,000 people living near Parramatta, voted in May to “take immediate action to remove same-sex parenting books and materials from the council’s library service.”
The motion was approved by a narrow margin of six votes to five.
During the debate, former mayor and current councilman Steve Christou showed a photograph of a book called Same-Sex Parents, written by author Holly Duhig, which he said had sparked complaints from his constituents.
The book features a gay male couple and their young son on the cover.
“A parent texted me to say ‘please take this rubbish off our shelves’, with a screenshot of the book,” Cr Christou said.
‘This is not Marrickville or Newtown.
‘We’re talking about a demographic where 62 percent of the population was originally foreign-born.
“They have deep-rooted conservative family and religious values, regardless of their religion, whether Christian, Catholic, Orthodox, Islamic, [or] Hindu.’
Cr Christou said the community was sick and tired of left-wing initiatives.
Former mayor and current Cumberland councilor Steve Christou touted the ban as a way to protect children from “sexualization” in the book (pictured).
What do residents think about the book ban?
Muslim Naz, 30, is in favor of the book being withdrawn because it could be too “overwhelming” for young children.
“It is difficult to address these issues because they are very sensitive for everyone,” he said.
‘Children should be exposed to everything, eventually, but they need protection to develop the skills to understand these things first.
‘The content around this is changing so rapidly that ten years ago most of us didn’t know there were more than two genres.
“I can understand, as a Muslim woman and mother-to-be, why young mothers want to protect their children from this, especially how it works with our Islamic views and culture.”
While Naz believed that education should be available to children, she believes timing is key.
She said the concepts of gender and sexuality can be difficult for children to understand.
‘For a child raised in this environment it can be difficult to understand what a boy or a girl is.
“Then they’re faced with choosing their gender and then they have to decide who they’re attracted to,” she said.
“I myself can accept and understand this concept, but for a six-year-old child it would be very difficult.”
Craig, who lives in Regents Park, told Daily Mail Australia the council “should not be involved” in deciding what parents allow their children to read.
‘There are all kinds of different people here; “Families can think what they want,” he said.
Cumberland resident Naz (pictured) said that while it is important for children to “be exposed to everything”, “they first need to be protected to develop the skills needed to understand”.
Former mayor and current councilor Steve Christou (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia he opposes “any form of sexualisation of our children, whether heterosexual or homosexual”.
Cumberland local Adriana, 32, said the electorate has a high concentration of Muslim believers who often have “really strong” opinions about the LGBTQ+ community.
“I haven’t seen the book and I don’t know its contents, but I don’t think it’s fair that the council just decided to take it down,” he said.
“If there were really strong negative comments, I can understand that, but it’s not fair.”
Shashank, 28, agreed, saying: “It is not right for the council to decide.”
‘Children should know these things, so banning the book is not a good idea.
“Parents have the first right to make decisions about their children.”
Adriana (pictured) said Cumberland has a high concentration of Muslim believers who often have “really strong” opinions about the LGBTQ+ community.
Shashank (pictured) believed it is “not right for councils to decide” what content parents allow their children to read.
Belma, 61, said if parents are worried about their children’s exposure to sexuality, the community library should be the least of their worries.
“You hear little kids talking about sex, but that’s not the fault of any book, it’s the Internet,” he said.
‘You can’t just eliminate books, you need to eliminate phones.
“I’m Muslim and there would be some Muslims who would be very upset with the book,” she said.
‘But children need to learn about these relationships. It’s not right for them to find out when they’re already dating.’
Another Cumberland resident, Angel, 26, said that while there are “some religions” in the area, “everyone should have the right to their own opinion.”
Belma (pictured) believes the book could have sparked a debate in Cumberland, which she says used to be “open-minded” but is now more conservative.
