Cumberland City Council in Sydney’s West reverses same-sex book ban
The Cumberland City Council in Sydney's west has reversed its decision to ban same-sex parenting books from its libraries, reinstating them just two weeks after the initial removal. This decision followed a contentious council meeting, which saw hundreds of protesters gathering outside the council chambers to voice their opposition. Reporter Tahnee Jash provides further details on the developments and community reactions.
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00:00Well, it was quite a heated debate here last night at Cumberland City Council where councillors
00:06were arguing over whether to lift a ban on same-sex parenting books from the library
00:11shelves of Western Sydney libraries.
00:14Now, it was quite a long meeting.
00:16The debate went on for more than four hours until councillors came to a conclusion where
00:2112 members voted for lifting the ban and two were against.
00:26Now, to remind some of our viewers of how this ban came about, it was actually brought
00:30to the table by former mayor and current Cumberland City Councillor, Steve Christou, who said
00:36he was contacted by distraught parents who found the book in the toddler's section of
00:42the library.
00:43He went on to say that the book doesn't reflect the values of his community, describing them
00:48as conservative and religious.
00:50Now, we also heard last night during the council meeting from a local resident and a grandmother
00:56of a rainbow family who had started an online petition that garnered over 40,000 signatures
01:04to lift the ban.
01:06And last night, we also saw quite tense and heated scenes within the council chambers
01:10that spilled out onto the streets here around me, where thousands of protesters had gathered
01:16either supporting the ban or were against it.
01:18We also saw police here on the grounds and as well as council security.
01:25Let's take a quick look at some of that vision from last night.
01:27Make yourself more welcome here.
01:29Make yourself more self-required.
01:31Make yourself more welcome here.
01:33Make yourself more self-required.
01:35Stop being able.
01:37Stop being able.
01:38Stop being able.
01:39Stop being able.
01:40Stop being able.
01:41And Tani, we've heard from the mayor this morning what she had to say.
01:48Yeah, that's right, Ruby.
01:49So the mayor spoke this morning and said that she didn't support the original motion to
01:54ban these books from the library shelves and was quite appalled by the decision to do that.
01:59But after yesterday's meeting where the vote was overturned and the books will be returning
02:05to the shelves, she said she was quite glad with that outcome.
02:08Let's take a quick listen to what she had to say on News Breakfast this morning.
02:13I think it was a very divisive and unnecessary debate about a little book that had been in
02:20our libraries for five years with no complaints.
02:24And I'm sorry that this debate has caused such hurt and I'm hopeful that we can all
02:32move forward now with that reaffirmation that, of course, this is a welcoming community.
02:40Now, after a tense and really heated last couple of weeks and after a majority of councillors
02:48voting to lift the ban last night, the books will return to the shelves of Western Sydney
02:53Libraries, Ruby.
02:54A short-lived ban.
02:56Tani Jash in Sydney.
02:57Thank you.