Book ban overturned in rowdy council meeting

The vote to reverse the book ban, proposed by Labor councillor Kun Huang, was passed 12-2 just before 10.45pm on May 15.

The controversial ban has been in place since the council's May 1 meeting when debate centred around one library book in particular, Same-Sex Parenting by Holly Duhig.

After heated discussion over the most appropriate location for the book, councillors decided it should be moved from the kids section to the junior non-fiction section.

Debate raged for four hours at the Cumberland City Council meeting as speakers voiced strong opinions on the ban and its affect on diversity and acceptance in the western Sydney community.

Crowds of protestors, for and against the ban, amassed outside the meeting while 17 speakers registered to voice their opinions.

Speaker Jessica Crowley said "this isn't the 1960s, councillors. We are out, we are loud and we are proud".

Cumberland local Danielle Wheeler said she "used to hold Cumberland Council up as a beacon of inclusiveness. I can't do that any more".

"You are not keeping kids safe. You are actively harming them and creating the division you hear outside," Ms Wheeler said.

A number of community speakers had choice words for the leading advocate of the ban councillor Steve Christou but none more than his fellow councillors.

Councillor Glenn Elmore said he was "a very, very rude person" and that his amendment was "stupid".

"You weren't taught any manners," Councillor Elmore said. Councillor Christou took this as an insult to his parents and demanded an apology.

Deputy mayor Ola Hamed accused Councillor Christou of "cheap political point-scoring" and said the move to ban books was a "dangerous, slippery slope".

"Here we are again entertaining another time-wasting distraction from Councillor Christou, one that is hateful and divisive," she said.

"The book has indeed been on the shelves since 2019 when Councillor Christou was mayor. This is about the election [being] around the corner."

The next Cumberland City Council meeting is scheduled for June 5.