Australians divided after a Western Sydney council banned books about same-sex ... trends now
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, narrowly voted in May to 'take immediate action to rid same-sex parents books/materials in council's library service'.
The motion passed by six votes to five.
During the debate, former mayor and current councillor Steve Christou, held up a picture of a book called Same-Sex Parents by author Holly Duhig which he claimed had sparked complaints from his constituents.
The book features a gay male couple and their young son on the cover.
'One parent texted me to say 'please get this crap off our shelves', with a screenshot of the book,' Cr Christou added. 'This is not Marrickville or Newtown.
'We're talking a demographic where 62 per cent of the population were originally born overseas.
'The have very deeply-held conservative family and religious values, regardless of their religion, whether that be Christian, Catholic, Orthodox, Islamic, Hindu.
Cr Christou said the community was sick and tired of left wing woke initiatives being infiltrated.
Cumberland's former mayor and current councillor Steve Christou touted the ban as a way to protect children from 'sexualisation' in the book (pictured)
What residents think about the book ban?
Muslim woman Naz, 30, is in favour of the book being pulled as it could be too 'overwhelming' for young children.
'It's hard to tackle these topics because it's very sensitive for everyone,' she said.
'Children should have exposure to everything, in time, but they need to be sheltered to develop the skillset to understand these things first.
'The content around this is changing so rapidly, ten years ago most of us didn't know there were more than two genders.
'I can understand as a Muslim female and future mother why young mothers want to protect their children from this - especially how it works with our Islamic views and culture.'
While Naz believed education should be available to children, she believes timing is key.
She said the concepts of of gender and sexuality can be difficult for children to understand.
'For a kid raised in this environment it can be
