Calls to restrict a series of sex education books have been endorsed by electors in one of Western Australia’s largest regional cities amid what an LGBTQI advocacy group has labelled a sign of “moral panic”.
Motions backing restrictions on books Welcome to Sex and Sex: A Book for Teens were passed at a meeting of electors in Albany, 420 kilometres south of Perth, on Monday.
The motions call for Welcome to Sex, by author Dr Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes, to be restricted to people 16 and over, and Sex: A Book for Teens to be pulled from library shelves until assessed by the Australian Classification Board.
Hundreds of people attended the meeting. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
A motion calling for comic book series Sex Criminals to be removed from the library’s e-book collection was also passed, along with a motion calling for the city to “safeguard” public events.
The motions will be put forward at an ordinary meeting of the City of Albany council, where they will be assessed and voted on.
Debate on the motions came in the wake of a widely-circulated petition in the community that argued that the city must act against “the promotion of sexualising children … through unrestricted books in the town library”.
Advocacy group Albany Pride, which the petition accused of promoting a twerking event to children, said the debate was part of a wider “moral panic” and an attempt to conflate LGBTQIA+ people with child grooming.
The building was filled to capacity and many gathered outside to ensure their vote was counted. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
Religious, social objections
The three-hour meeting attracted a crowd of about 400 people.
A motion calling for the books to remain was defeated by 224 votes to 180 and other motions passed by similar margins.
Those backing the restrictions said the book’s descriptions and illustrations crossed the line from sex education to the “sexualisation” of children.
Some opposed religious arguments for the restriction of the books (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
“I support my library, but when I see this smut … it disgusts me to my core,” great-grandfather Barry Leslie said at the meeting.
“No child … [should be] exposed to this type of filth.”
Father of five Gareth Ballast spoke to say the debate was part of a larger “battle” between “a secular world view and a biblical world view”.
“Sexuality is a creative gift from God and he as the creator gets to determine its boundaries,” he said.
Kevin McCreton said the proposed restrictions were somewhat reminiscent of the Nazis burning books in 1933. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
Vetted resources critical
Those opposing the restrictions argued it would infringe on the independence of Albany’s public library and prevent it from performing its role of providing an informative, diverse selection of resources.
“It’s not quite the book burning of 1933 Germany, but it is the thin end of the wedge,” Kevin McCreton said.
During their speeches, the books’ defenders argued such resources were needed to give young people a comprehensive sex education.
Many attendees argued that sex education books provide more accurate information than the content young people can find online. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
Placing books on health issues into a restricted area would make access very challenging to many vulnerable individuals who are the audience of such books,” public health postgraduate student Rebecca Voisin said during her speech.
“In contrast to the safety and security of a library, the internet is full of uncensored, unrestricted and unsafe material.”
“In our community, many students come from low socio-economic backgrounds where sexual education may be minimal or non existent,” health teacher Stacey Miller said.
“Providing them with vetted, accurate resources through the library helps them ensure they receive correct and useful guidance.”
Michelle Kinsella is a member of the Keep Children Safe Albany group. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
Who is behind the petition?
The petition – signed by 362 people – that triggered the meeting was put together by a group which calls itself Keeping Children Safe Albany (KCSA).
The campaign has been led by former One Nation and Involuntary Medication Objectors Party candidate Michelle Kinsella.
“[The books] are borderline pornographic,” she said before the meeting.
“Obviously there’s been a lapse in judgement and obviously that’s a concern, not only for myself, but the majority of people here in Albany.”
Ms Kinsella said she did not oppose the LGBTQIA+ community and said Albany Pride was “misled”.
Supporters and opponents filled Albany’s Civic Centre building. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
But in a previous KCSA meeting Ms Kinsella said she believed transgender people had “hijacked” Albany Pride to promote an “agenda”.
She has stood by the statement and suggested it was why Albany Pride opposed her group.
“Why would they be standing here objecting to us trying to protect children from being sexualised and exposed to sexual, graphic pictures?” Ms Kinsella said.
The group has also been supported by Albany’s state Liberal candidate and city councillor, Thomas Brough, and independent state MLC Sophia Moermond, formerly of the Legalise Cannabis party.
Tiger Bird (right) says misinformation can have serious impacts for young LGBTQIA+ people. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
‘Same old nonsense again’
Albany Pride spokesperson Tiger Bird said the group had been subject to “misinformation” and warned that KCSA was promoting a conspiracy theory that suggested LGBTQIA+ people were “grooming” children.
“It’s one of those well-trodden avenues of these groups, linking queer people to grooming and paedophilia,” Albany Pride spokesperson Tiger Bird said before the meeting.
“It’s a moral panic issue — they say, ‘If you don’t agree with us you agree with the sexualisation of children’, and that’s nonsense.”
Albany Pride said KCSA’s claim the group had promoted a “twerking” event to children was wrong, with the event — held during Albany’s Pride week — restricted to people aged 18 and over.
Albany Pride says there is a broader effort in the area to demonise transgender people. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
Ms Kinsella had previously suggested the group’s Dungeons and Dragons (a role-playing game) events could be a way to groom children.
“It’s the same old nonsense again and again, it’s the same recycled rhetoric,” Ms Bird said about KCSA’s comments towards Albany Pride.
The meeting concluded with Albany Pride’s Hannah Halls proposing a motion calling for the city to verify all groups that work with children to meet the recommendations of the 2017 Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.
The motion, which specifically mentioned religious groups and church organisations, also passed.
Editor’s note 28/08/2024: This story has been amended to reflect that Dr Melissa Kang is the primary author of Welcome to Sex and Yumi Stynes is the secondary author.
