Merri-bek councillor Oscar Yildiz forced to take down social media post criticising council-funded drag story time for kids

An inner-city council is being slammed as “disgusting” and undemocratic after it asked a prominent councillor to remove a social media post criticising a controversial drag event for children.

An inner-city council is being slammed as “disgusting” and undemocratic after it asked a prominent councillor to remove a social media post criticising a controversial drag event for young children.

Merri-bek councillor Oscar Yildiz took to social media to voice his disagreement with a council-sponsored “Drag Family Storytime” to be held in Brunswick on Friday.

In a now-deleted post, he wrote, “Can’t we just have stories, songs, and craft, or whatever else there is for children and their families to enjoy without a drag performance? … I’m embarrassed to serve as a councillor at Merri-bek.”

Merri-bek Cr Oscar Yildiz takes to social media to voice his disagreement with a council-sponsored Drag Family Storytime to be held at Brunswick Town Hall on Friday.

However, Mr Yildiz later got a call from his council saying he “must delete” the post because it “offended and distressed some of the council staff”.

“(Being gagged) goes against our democratic values and against my role as a counsellor to represent the community,” he said, speaking exclusively to the Herald Sun.

“I was elected to represent my community, and my post about a drag queen reading to three-year-old children and its appropriateness has resonated with a lot of my residents and I am speaking on their behalf.

“I’m happy to be told by my residents to delete the post, but it wasn’t my residents; it came from the council.”

A Merri-bek council spokeswoman said officers spoke to Cr Yildiz about his social media post because there was “concern that the wider promotion of event details, and the negative attention this promotion was gaining, could lead to disruption of the event which could affect the safety of community and staff”.

Council Watch spokesman Dean Hurlston. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Council Watch spokesman Dean Hurlston said it was “vital” for a functioning democracy to allow counsellors to freely express their views.

“Only the public can decide whether their views are inappropriate by either rewarding or punishing them at the ballot box,” he said.

“It is not for the administration to take sides in any political discussion or debate, and the fact the administration sought to influence and arguably direct a counsellor is disgusting and needs to stop.

“We put counsellors in charge of our councils, not the CEO or the administration.”

Mr Hurlston said there was “a weakening of democracy” seen across the nation with “loud, aggressive, violent activists getting their way”.

“We are concerned about the threat to councillor safety and the constant confected threats to staff safety. Staff are at the lowest risk of threats from the community than they’ve ever been, yet the moment someone disagrees, they start screaming they’re not safe,” he said.

“This is the nature of politics and local government. If staff can’t handle robust debate and differing opinions, get out of the sector.”

Merri-bek councillor Oscar Yildiz. Picture: Supplied

Mr Yildiz said he was not against drag queens but he was against “drag queens reading to young children”.

“I am not anti-drag or anti-LGBTQ. Adults should speak to adults about (drag) but not children. Because that can be viewed as indoctrinating or grooming children because to me, as a second-grade teacher, that’s how it comes across and I find that inappropriate,” he said.

“The tide is turning where councils are being hijacked by the leftist elites who are now pushing their own political agenda.”

A Merri-bek father, who asked to stay anonymous, said he was not “comfortable” with his young kids being exposed to drag queens because “they don’t have to worry about stuff like this”.

“I have an issue with having a drag queen speak to kids at a certain (young) age. If you’re 18 plus, then I really got no problem with it but they’re trying to introduce the drag queen to kids, which I think is very wrong. Anyone can do story time, but why does it have to be a drag queen,” he said.

But Rainbow Local Government campaign co-lead and spokesman Dr Sean Mulcahy said drag story times were “fun and popular events that increase children’s literacy and appreciation for diversity”.

“Drag story times are popular events that provide parents an opportunity to connect and children to have a fun time in the safe and supportive environment of their local library. It is so disappointing to see Cr Yildiz share comments referring to these events as ‘grooming’,” he said.

Merri-bek city council mayor Adam Pulford. Photo: supplied.

Merri-bek city council mayor Adam Pulford said some council events were “targeted” at specific groups and drag storytimes celebrated “rainbow families and LGBTIQA+ community members”.

“People who seek to drive fear and division have targeted drag story times elsewhere in Victoria, trying to shut them down and disguising their homophobia with fake concerns about kids,” he said.

Mr Pulford said he had not attended drag storytime as a child in Darwin but was still an “out gay man”.

“The reality is that drag story times don’t turn kids gay or queer — queer kids exist whether these events happen or not,” he said.

“By running drag story times, children in our community are given the opportunity to be part of celebrating our differences and diversity, and to hear the message that every member of our community is valued and belongs.”