this post was submitted on 08 May 2024
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And a week later Cumberland Council has voted to repeal the book ban 13-2. Even two of the OLC councillors crossed the floor in the end, leaving Sarkis and Christou alone in defeat.
So it seems the petitions and protesting seems to have helped - as well as pressure from both sides of state government.
Plenty of people addressed council, and many of them did live or work in the area (a few did not, which Christou is predictably trying to turn into a "people from outside our community pushing their values on you" talking point - but he's exaggerating here).
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/15/hate-is-not-a-family-value-protesters-clash-as-sydney-council-considers-rescinding-same-sex-parenting-book-ban#img-1
Only four councillors didn't vote on the original ban. Two (Sarkis and Farouqi) had a leave of absence and Rahme was unable to attend and had sent his apologies.
Hamed left the room during the vote (apparently due to threats she'd received for voting on similar matters on the past).
The more significant point is that of the six who voted for the ban, five also ended up voting to repeal it (even two from Christou's own party).