Alabama lawmakers have passed a series of bills aimed at shaping the educational environment in public schools, requiring the display of the Ten Commandments, banning LGBT pride flags, and prohibiting school employees from using pronouns that do not align with students' biological sex.
The Alabama House of Representatives endorsed these measures on Thursday, with House Bill 178 receiving an 88-11 vote in favor. House Bill 178 mandates that K-12 public schools display the Ten Commandments in entryways or in common areas such as cafeterias and classrooms where U.S. history is taught.
The bill specifies that local boards of education are not obligated to use school funds for compliance and may accept donations to fulfill this requirement. Additionally, displays of the Ten Commandments must be at least 11-by-14 inches in size and include text explaining their significance in shaping Western civilization.
On the same day, lawmakers also passed House Bill 244, which prohibits classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in public school prekindergarten through twelfth grade. This bill further bans teachers from displaying LGBT pride flags and from using “pronouns inconsistent with a student's biological sex.”
Moreover, lawmakers approved House Bill 67, which prohibits public schools and libraries from hosting drag performances. This bill also restricts state entities from allowing minors to share facilities with members of the opposite sex during overnight programs, unless the individual is a relative and parental or guardian permission has been granted.
All three bills are now awaiting approval from the state Senate.
The recent legislative developments in Alabama follow similar actions in other states, as Arkansas' Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently signed Senate Bill 433 into law, which requires K-12 public schools, postsecondary institutions, and state buildings funded by taxpayers to display a copy of the Ten Commandments and the U.S. national motto, “In God We Trust.”
Notably, Louisiana was the first state to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, but its law was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court in November of last year.
