MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A slate of Republican-backed bills advanced in the Alabama House on Thursday, including measures banning drag shows at public libraries and restricting discussion of gender ideology in schools, sparking hours of debate from Democrats who questioned their potential impacts.
House Bill 247, which would rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America to mirror President Donald Trump’s executive order, a bill that saw Republican leadership invoke cloture, ending the debate early.
Other bills taken up by the House that saw pushback included House Bill 178, carried by Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, which would require public K-12 schools to display the Ten Commandments in common areas and history classrooms.
“This is about restoring back to our schools – and also hopefully our public places at some point in time – those things that were removed by decisions by those in high places, our courts, that were foundational principle documents that helped guide the formation of our country,” Gidley said, introducing his bill on the House floor.
For over an hour, Democrats spoke out against the measure, arguing that the bill could result in costly lawsuits against the state, and that there were more pressing issues state lawmakers should be addressing instead such as the rising cost of living and access to health care.
“I want us to be doing things that are really, really making a difference,” said Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville, speaking against the bill on the House floor. “I don’t believe that posting the Ten Commandments in our schools really meets that criteria.”
Not all Democrats opposed the bill, however. Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, championed the measure as something “that our children need.”
“That’s what’s missing in our schools, that’s what’s missing in our homes, that’s what’s missing in our families, you need the word of God,” Sellers said. “And here we’re debating whether or not to put it in a school? Yes, they need to see it!”
The bill passed overwhelmingly with a vote of 78-11, and seven abstentions, meaning 18 Democrats either voted for the legislation or abstained.
The next bill on the calendar, House Bill 67, which would prohibit public schools or libraries from hosting drag performances, drew an even more subdued response from Democrats. It passed with a vote of 76-9 with nine abstentions.
House Bill 244, which would prohibit gender ideology or sexual orientation instruction at public schools, teachers from displaying pride flags or insignia, and teachers from using “pronouns inconsistent with a student’s biological sex,” passed with a vote of 74-15 and seven abstentions.
Shortly after the House adjourned, House Democrats held a press conference to speak on their opposition efforts on the floor.
“The only thing we did today is waste taxpayers’ money by passing out of this House bills that are fundamentally unconstitutional,” said Rep. Ontario Tillman, D-Bessemer. “There will be a ton of challenges to these bills if they become law.”
Tillman said that the bill mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed in schools was likely to face legal challenges, citing the 2004 case in which a Ten Commandments monument, installed at the behest of then Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, cost Alabama taxpayers nearly $550,000 after Moore refused a federal judge’s order to remove it.
On the Democrats’ opposition tactics on the House floor, Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, suggested members had exhausted all options.
“We filibustered all day because we want to talk about the things that are important to Alabamians,” Drummond said. “…They clotured us; we would have talked more, but they actually clotured us.”
Drummond also said that Republican leadership invoked cloture to halt debate on three occasions, and Lands, that Democrats’ request to speak on bills – signified by a light on the House Speakers desk – were ignored.
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, denied that Republican leadership had invoked cloture three times, and said they had instead done it just once, on the bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico. He also denied ignoring Democrats’ request to speak on bills.
“I’m the only one that sees lights, I didn’t see any being ignored, there weren’t any lights ignored,” Ledbetter told Alabama Daily News. “They had a lot of time, I mean most of the time we spent today on the floor was with debate with them, and that’s rightfully so, they’ve got that right to do that.”