In line with a nationwide conservative agenda that has split statehouses throughout the nation, Alabama lawmakers approved a number of proposals on Thursday that will restrict safeguards for LGBTQ+ kids and increase the use of Christian literature in public classrooms.
The Republican-controlled Alabama House of Representatives debated three bills for hours on Thursday.
The laws, which were approved by resounding majorities, would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools, outlaw drag performances, forbid instructors from holding pride flags or promoting formal conversations about sexuality, and let chaplains to serve as school counsellors.
Members of the Democratic caucus denounced the measures as “a waste of taxpayer money” that “won’t bring down the cost of eggs,” while Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter characterised the bills as “common sense.”
The bill is a component of a larger movement in conservative states to control the way schools address social issues, a goal that President Donald Trump has supported.
According to a study, using the bill-tracking program Plural, Alabama is one of at least 20 states that have proposed legislation in 2025 that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in state facilities or public schools.
Rep. Mark Gidley, the proponent of Alabama’s Ten Commandments law, stated that he had no intention of endorsing any one faith.
Instead, he stated that the measure acknowledges the Ten Commandments as “one of the principal foundational documents that guided the ideas that created this great country.” The Ten Commandments are included in the Old Testament of the Bible.
According to the law, materials that highlight the display’s historical background should be added.
The first state to mandate that the Ten Commandments be shown in every classroom in public schools and universities was Louisiana in 2024. Last year, a federal judge blocked the statute, ruling that it had a “overtly religious” objective.
In Alabama, the Ten Commandments have long been promoted in public settings.
However, religious leaders throughout the state have been vocally opposing the proposals in recent weeks, arguing that the religious legislation will violate the First Amendment and make Alabama public schools inhospitable to religious minorities.
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During a committee hearing in March, Steve Silberman, a rabbi with 35 years of experience at a Mobile synagogue, expressed his worry that the Ten Commandments measure “unfairly sidelines Alabamians who may have diverse views of religious traditions.”
Numerous lawmakers spoke out in favour of the bill on Thursday.
Representatives also rapidly passed two additional laws that same day, prohibiting teachers from flying pride flags or leading formal discussions on LGBTQ+ topics, as well as prohibiting drag shows at public schools and libraries without parental authorisation.
The only openly homosexual lawmaker in Alabama, Rep. Neil Rafferty, opposed the bill in his testimony.
