Recently, Cumberland City Council in Western Sydney voted to put a blanket ban on books that feature same-sex parenting and remove them from local libraries. Libraries and bookstores often stock what people buy or borrow, what they know their community wants or what will be accessed. So why is this banning an issue?
These days, people are calling for more diverse books. They want a range of experiences, lives and people represented. This is something I have heard discussed on countless podcasts: Your Kid’s Next Read, The Book Show, particularly in the current Banned Books series, and Words and Nerds. It is clear to me as a reader and reviewer that it is important to have a wide range of books available so everyone can read what they like.
But the slippery slope of those in power determining what everyone should have access to based on a handful of complaints is starting to trickle back into Australia. The former Cumberland City mayor, Steve Christou cited that ‘distraught local parents’ were upset by the presence of a book on same-sex parenting – said to be found in the ‘toddler section’.
A book that talks about same-sex parenting to children aged five to seven, so children with two parents of the same sex, and as Holly Tregenza says in her article ‘What’s the same-sex parenting book banned by Cumberland City councillors in Western Sydney’, discusses the proposition that councillors see the content as inappropriate for children – and as a result mentions that as of the 8th of May, books were being processed to determine how they meet the controversial requirements and resolution.
One argument put forward by Christou hinted that it was inappropriate due to the religious families in the family community – but when I read up years ago on banned books, this was often an argument – suggesting that the religion of one cohort was more important than access to information for the majority who may want to learn more and become part of an inclusive community for all families. The question here is – why should the religious beliefs of the few dominate what the majority has access to?
And does a council have the power to determine what people should be able to read? According to the NSW Arts Minister, John Graham, also quoted in the article, no, it’s not their role and it ‘amounts to a denial of access’. Ultimately, the power to decide what to read should be in the hands of the reader.
And we all know what can happen when communities and civilisations turn to book banning and book burning – we just need to look at Nazi Germany and all the knowledge and voices they destroyed- the lost knowledge across a range of areas that would have enhanced our understanding and perhaps ensured we knew more about so many things.
In an article on The Conversation, ‘A Sydney council has banned books with same-sex parents from its libraries. But since when did councils ban books?’ by Sarah Mokryzcki, whom identifies as a queer woman and foster mother, she says the decision of Christou disheartened her – because the argument to ban the book was entrenched in the idea that the book about same-sex parenting would ‘sexualise’ children, an idea that can lead to determining, Sarah says in her eloquent article, making children think same-sex parents is not normal – and this can dismiss the experiences of same-sex parents, and limits how we all understand different families. In my eyes, this doesn’t help anyone be seen or understand others.
This ban, based on information from the article discussed above and an article in The Guardian from the 7th of May, is said to be a breach of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act – with the NSW Arts Minister accusing the council of censorship.
Of course, censorship is not new in Australia – the Trade and Customs Act of 1901 long controlled the importation of books for much of the 20th century, banning many books. This led to the Australian Classification Board beginning in 1970 – a body that could make statutory decisions on whether a book was suitable and should be publicly available. And many books have been banned in the past. There’s a lot about this out there too.
Recently, the board has been struggling with Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, challenged in 2023 by a conservative commentator the status is still threatened and the ban discussed in a recent episode of The Book Show on the ABC. It seems to be, based on my reading, an example of low-key censorship in Australia – in Gender Queer’s case, it must be asked for at Logan library, and had Kinokuniya in Sydney not paid the classification fee that the book may not be available there.
So what’s next? Well, according to Sarah Mokryzcki, if it does succeed, Cumberland library’s government funding could be affected, Advocacy groups are taking action, as they should be, to ensure this doesn’t go ahead. Sarah points out the counter-intuitiveness of the ban: that when people are represented in books it creates inclusivity – and surely this is a good thing?
So, where to now? Well, there is a vote on the 15th of May about reversing the ban. The Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Wendy Rapee says that this recent decision should be a warning bell about the future of free access to information in a piece on the 10th of May – ‘Banning Books in Libraries: A warning to us all: A step towards further isolation and intolerance.’ She says that bans like this in public libraries are counter to what they stand for – access to information. And she rightly points out that there are questions about who should get to decide what’s appropriate, or what people should have access to. Like Wendy, I can see that this broad trend of book banning can be harmful – that it will increase division instead of fostering inclusivity and understanding. And book bans often cater to a vocal minority rather than the community needs that Wendy says a public library works towards.
In response to the ban, the publisher has made the book free to download from their website – and it seems that there has been no resolution to date – as of the 14th of May 2024 based on my research. But I will keep an eye out for updates. There are many more articles than I quoted here, but they all explore the same themes.
Because stories can shape us and our beliefs, we need diverse books. And we need to remember that if you don’t want to read a book for whatever reason, nobody is forcing you too. It’s having it available for those who want it – in this case, same-sex parents, their families and those around them who want to know more and be seen.
All the articles I consulted have one thing in common: how book banning affects the community – those who would find the books empowering when they can see themselves represented, and those who want to learn more, and become allies. It is stories and books like the two at the heart of challenges and bans that can help people feel less alone, allow them to be seen in a world that might not see them. The dangers of book banning won’t affect the majority at first – the books people will go after at first will be ones like the two discussed in this article – the ones that supposedly threaten the status quo – but it’s a slippery slope – what’s next? When will it stop? Do we want a future where we all read the exact same things? I don’t think so. We need to value the diversity of books and value the way they represent our diverse communities, not ban them on the whims of the few.
So go out there and read the books you want to read, because reading is powerful and helps us understand the world around us. Don’t let books be taken away.
An update: The ban cited at the top of this article has been overturned!
Resources:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-08/same-sex-parenting-book-banned-from-libraries/103819476
https://abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-book-show/banned-books-gender-queer-in-australia/103733422
https://www.cbcansw.org.au/cbca-info
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Hi Ashleigh,
Well said! This is so disturbing. Fingers crossed they will reverse this decision. I just downloaded and read the book – it’s just such a lovely message of “hey, lets be inclusive!” If people are offended by something that innocuous, it’s a scary insight to how biased some people are.
Great article btw,
Cheers Nat x
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Thanks Nat, and yes I hope it is reversed too. It is much easier for people to just walk away from the book if it upsets them than to make it hard for those who want it to access it.
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Great article. Censorship of this sort is a slippery slope that shouldn’t be tolerated. Well written, excellent sentiments.
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