Cumberland City Council in western Sydney has rescinded it ban on books mentioning same-sex parents from being stocked at their libraries.
Wednesday nights council meeting saw huge numbers of protesters both for and against the book ban facing off against each other, while elected representatives debated the issues a second time.
The move to ban books featuring depictions on same-sex parenting was proposed by the former mayor of the city Steve Christou.
Christou said he was responding to complaints from many constituents who had contacted him about the book Same-Sex Parents by author Holly Duhig.
Later in media interviews he acknowledged that he never read the book that sparked his call for a widespread ban.
The ban was rescinded with 10 councilors voting to reverse the ruling, and only two councilors arguing to uphold it.
Christou and fellow councilor Paul Garrard attempted to change the motion to call for books with same-sex content to be kept only in the adult section of the library, but this was also rejected.
The proposed ban had led to warnings from the NSW government that it may jeopardise funding and also put the council in breach of the state’s equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws.
