A Western Sydney council may have funding pulled from its libraries after a controversial bid to remove same-sex parenting books and materials from the shelves.
Cumberland City Council has voted 6-5 to rid its libraries of the books after former mayor Steve Christou suggested the material was not supported by residents, who held “conservative family and religious values”.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Same-sex parenting book pulled from Cumberland libraries.
But the motion, passed on Tuesday night, has been slammed by another council as “something we would expect to see in Putin’s Russia”, while Independent NSW MP Alex Greenwich also criticised the ban.
And the NSW government said it was considering the future of the council’s library funding.
Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne, said councils had “a responsibility to serve all children and families equally”.
He said his council would “continue to provide books and resources for all families, from all backgrounds, and will continue hosting drag story time events too”.
“(If) Councillor Steve Christou thinks the Inner West is too inclusive and respectful, we wear that as a badge of honour,” Byrne said on Wednesday.
“Let’s be honest, if someone as small minded as Steve Christou is allowed to decide what books kids are able to read and borrow, we’ll end up with nothing but comic books in library collections.
“Banning books is something we would expect to see in Putin’s Russia, not modern, inclusive Sydney.”
Byrne said that in recent months, the Inner West Council had been “targeted by extremists seeking to disrupt and cancel a range of our LGBTQI events including drag story times events.
“We will not back down in the face of intimidation from such a small minority or bigoted reactionaries,” he said.
Sydney Independent MP Alex Greenwich also criticised the ban.
“Library books don’t cause harm, but bigots do,” he posted on X.
On Wednesday, Christou joined Matt Shirvington and Natalie Barr on Sunrise, speaking about why he moved to ban books and materials referencing same-sex parenting from the library.
“You have to understand Cumberland City Council is made up with residents where the majority were born 60 per cent overseas (and) hold conservative family and religious values,” Christou said.
“Despite their religious backgrounds, they share similar beliefs when it comes to family and religious values,” he said, adding that the message about removing the books had been “sent to us loud and clear”.
The councillor estimated 400 people attended the meeting when the motion was passed.
Christou said the motion wasn’t an attack on same-sex families in the community.
“We welcome everybody at Cumberland City Council — it’s not an attack on same-sex couples,” he said.
“All we want is for our kids to go into a library regardless of their background and enjoy a children’s book.
“There’s no need for children to be placed under unnecessary pressure on confusion of how they’re being raised or where they’re being raised. Kids are kids.”
NSW Arts Minister John Graham said the state government was considering financial penalties for the council.
“We are examining the consequences this decision may have for the council continuing to receive library funding from the NSW government,” he said.
“It is up to readers to choose which book to take off the shelf.”
7NEWS.com.au has contacted Cumberland City Council for further comment.