The Australian state of Victoria has issued guidance for public libraries that Christians and concerned citizens are calling “inappropriate” and “indoctrination.”
The “Rainbow Libraries Toolkit” was designed “to provide more inclusive spaces” for members of the LGBTQ community, according to an announcement from the office of Jacinta Allan, premier of Victoria.
According to news reports, the toolkit encourages staff at the state’s 290 public libraries to add books on gender diversity, promote drag queen story events and avoid the use of “gendered language.”
But the guidance goes even further.
“The Labor Government now expects librarians to ask children for their preferred pronoun on arrival, followed by labeling them with pronoun badges, pins or lanyards,” said Jasmine Yuen, Victorian director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) “This is an Orwellian move on steroids. The Labor Government appears determined to remove any safe spaces in Victoria where children can be children, free from gender ideology indoctrination.”
ACL is encouraging citizens to email Allan and other government leaders, asking them to overturn the decision to introduce the toolkits. A press release from ACL dated Sept. 15 reports, “Parents and grandparents across Victoria have responded en masse, expressing deep concern to their state parliamentarians over the Labor Government’s ‘Rainbow Toolkit.’”
Although supporters of the new guidelines say they will help everyone to feel welcome in public libraries, many others disagree.
“It is incredible that families can no longer even visit a public library without staff members attempting to recruit children into the radical gender cult,” Bella d’Abrera of the Australian Institute of Public Affairs told the Herald Sun. “Children should be left alone to be children.”
