Yass Valley deputy mayor’s bid to remove sex education book fails

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Yass Valley Deputy Mayor Jasmin Jones moved the motion to remove the book from the local library, describing it as “an arrow to the heart” of families who hold conservative values.

Transcript

00:00 It's the bestseller that's also raised a few eyebrows, and now 'Welcome to Sex' has caught

00:08 the attention of a small-town councillor.

00:11 The Deputy Mayor of Yass, Jasmine Jones, used a council meeting to try to have the book

00:16 removed from the local library.

00:18 A motion in the council papers listed some of her concerns.

00:22 "I was left disturbed by its showcase of sexual acts without relationship context," she said.

00:29 She also criticised what she described as its "judgmental treatment of those who value virginity."

00:36 "It has cute little pictures, cartoon pictures, with eyes drawn on them.

00:41 My five-year-old would be attracted to that book."

00:43 The motion was voted down by seven votes to two, with concerns about the potential for censorship.

00:50 "If we get into the role of guiding what people are reading, I think it's a bridge too far

00:58 for local government."

01:00 Much of the community seems to agree.

01:03 "Definitely should be up to the parents and carers of the kids to decide what they read."

01:08 "Yeah, they're going to get anyhow. Leave it there."

01:11 "If they don't want their child to read it, don't let them get it out of the library."

01:16 Experts say had the motion passed, it could have set a dangerous precedent.

01:21 "I think there is something kind of artificial about this particular controversy.

01:25 There are many books with material that's somewhat controversial that children have

01:29 very easy access to."

01:31 But as of today, two copies of the book were checked out of the library, and the remaining

01:36 one was on hold.

01:37 [silence]

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