Premium Content:

City of Belmont challenged over LGBTIQA+ themed books in library

The City of Belmont has knocked back calls from a local resident to remove LGBTIQA+ themed books from within the youth section of the library.

Local resident Luigi Rosolin raised his concerns at a recent council meeting telling city officials that he understood that being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender was “allowed by law”, he didn’t think it was appropriate for children under 13 to be able to read about it.

- Advertisement -

The Belmont resident shared that he had decided to visit the Ruth Faulkner Library to check the shelves for LGBTIQA+ content after seeing segments on television where people were calling for the removal of books with LGBTIQA+ content.

His concerns were reported in Perth Now by journalist Michael Palmer.

Rosolin told the council he’d asked staff to consider to removing any books with LGBTIQA+ references out of the youth section, but they’d not gotten back to him.

CEO John Christie said he was aware that he’d recently made the request to the library, but the city was of the view people could make their own decisions about which books they wanted to read.

“A great thing about living in Australia is that people have the freedom to be different without persecution or discrimination,” Christie said.

“The Ruth Faulkner Library aims to provide a space for everyone to belong to. This includes providing resources that represent our diverse community, including those that explore different sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.”

The CEO said parents were the best people to guide what books their children took out of the library.

The call for the books to be removed follows a campaign from the Australian Christian Lobby which asks for people to nominate books they want taken out of libraries.

Latest

On This Gay Day | Michael Kirby became a High Court justice

Michael Kirby has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTIQA+ rights.

Couch Potato | Muppets, Take That, Alan Carr, Gogglebox and more

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, put on music and dress up right. The Muppets return to their roots.

Mark of Cain member Josie Scott shares that she is transgender

Josie Scott, the guitarist in Australian alternative metal band...

Pedro Pascals signs on for Todd Haynes’ ‘De Noche’

Pascal will take over the role abandoned by Joaquin Phoenix.

Newsletter

Don't miss

On This Gay Day | Michael Kirby became a High Court justice

Michael Kirby has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTIQA+ rights.

Couch Potato | Muppets, Take That, Alan Carr, Gogglebox and more

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, put on music and dress up right. The Muppets return to their roots.

Mark of Cain member Josie Scott shares that she is transgender

Josie Scott, the guitarist in Australian alternative metal band...

Pedro Pascals signs on for Todd Haynes’ ‘De Noche’

Pascal will take over the role abandoned by Joaquin Phoenix.

Comedian Larry Dean joins Saturday Night Live! UK

Will a British version of the iconic US show work?

On This Gay Day | Michael Kirby became a High Court justice

Michael Kirby has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTIQA+ rights.

Couch Potato | Muppets, Take That, Alan Carr, Gogglebox and more

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, put on music and dress up right. The Muppets return to their roots.

Mark of Cain member Josie Scott shares that she is transgender

Josie Scott, the guitarist in Australian alternative metal band The Mark of Cain, has shared that she is transgender. The band has been a constant...