Council Ban on Drag Storytime Events Sparks Activist Response
A collective of LGBTQI activists is mounting a challenge against a western Sydney council's prohibition on hosting events where drag queens read stories to children. Cumberland Council implemented the ban across all its facilities, including libraries, halls, and community centres, in February 2024, despite no previous requests for such events having been made.
Political Division and Community Response
The controversial move was spearheaded by Libertarian councillor Steve Christou, who has expressed concern about the newly formed LGBTQI group Rainbow Cumberland launching a petition to overturn the prohibition. The activist group emerged in May 2024 following the council's earlier decision to reverse its ban on a book about same-sex parenting from library shelves.
Rainbow Cumberland describes its mission as promoting 'community actions and initiatives to fight back against homophobia and transphobia'. Their website states they are 'antiracist, pro-Palestine, feminist, and Covid-cautious' while affirming 'the unique intersection of queerness with religion and cultural diversity.'
Escalating Tensions and Council Debate
Councillor Christou took to social media to defend the ban, posting: 'It is not normal for young children who should be playing innocently with their friends to have to worry about men dressed in dresses and wearing lipstick.' He claimed the 'Cumberland City Council community spoke in their thousands against this very proposal' and vowed to 'ensure that children's innocence, safety, and freedoms are protected from such ideology at a young age.'
The petition, hosted on Action Network's platform, had gathered 275 signatures by Sunday afternoon against a target of 50,000. The campaign argues that 'the ban on drag sent a hateful message that LGBTQIA+ people should not be seen in public' and notes the absence of any historic record of drag storytime events in the Cumberland LGA before the ban.
In response to claims that a drag reading occurred at Lidcombe Community Centre last month, Cr Christou confirmed it was a private booking with no council involvement. He nevertheless urged residents to 'converge on the council's chambers and insist the ban remains in place.'
The original amended motion to ban drag storytime was moved by Our Local Community councillor Paul Garrard and seconded by Cr Christou, passing in front of a packed public gallery. Cr Garrard stated at the time: 'We do not support exposing children to diverse expressions of gender identity, nor do we believe in any way that it supports their natural development of inclusiveness.'
Then-deputy mayor Ola Hamed described the motion as a 'cheap political stunt' amounting to 'fear-mongering'. The debate continues as both sides prepare for further confrontation over the council's stance on LGBTQ+ inclusive events.
