AL Bill Would Expand “Don’t Say Gay” To Grades K-12

The Alabama Reflector reports:

A House representative is bringing back an attempt to expand Alabama’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which critics say infringe on teachers’ and students’ free speech. HB 244, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would prohibit public school teachers at all grade levels from teaching or discussing gender identity or sexuality.

The law currently bans such discussions from kindergarten to fifth grade. Butler also said the expansion to all primary and secondary education is to be in line with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order.

“We send our children to school to be educated, not indoctrinated, but some extremists see classrooms as a captive audience that can be used to force their ideas on the next generation,” Butler said in a statement Monday.

Read the full article. Last year’s attempt was not heard by the state Senate before the chamber gaveled out for the 2024 session. Earlier this month, Iowa also saw a bill seeking to expand “Don’t Say Gay” to grades K-12. Butler first appeared here in 2017 for his successful bill to protect Confederate monuments.