Western Sydney council reverses controversial book ban after heated debate

A Sydney council’s controversial ban on a children’s book about same-sex parents was overturned after hours of fiery debate at a meeting on Wednesday night.

Cumberland City Council faced national and global headlines and outrage from across the political spectrum for banning Same-Sex Parents by Holly Duhig, part of a series depicting diverse family structures for a younger audience. It features two men and a child on the front cover.

On Wednesday night, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Merrylands council chambers, along with dozens of police officers and council security, as councillors gathered to debate a motion to reverse the ban.

A number of people were ejected from the chambers for disruptive behaviour as Mayor Lisa Lake attempted to keep the meeting under control.

After four hours of debate and numerous failed attempts at amendments, the original vote to ban the book was reversed.

Councillors voted for a motion to reinstate the book into its library collections, but to move it from the children’s section to the junior non-fiction section in line with Australian library guidelines.

That motion, put forward by Labor’s Kun Huang, was passed 12-2 just before 10.45pm. One councillor, Joseph Rahme, was absent.

The final vote saw several changes.

In the final hour, Councillor Steve Christou was abandoned by his own party colleagues in Paul Garrard and Helen Hughes, who voted in favour of the motion.