Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a set of bills last week which respectively ban so-called gender-affirming treatments for minors, public sexuality instruction in younger grades, and transgender bathroom policies allowing students in K-12 schools to use the facilities that correspond with their gender identity.
“I believe very strongly that if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl,” Ivey, a Republican, said in a statement upon signing the Alabama Vulnerable Child Protection Act.
“We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life. Instead, let us all focus on helping them to properly develop into the adults God intended them to be.”
Under the law, doctors who medically castrate or provide other sex-change treatments to minors will be guilty of a Class C felony and could face up to 10 years in prison, according to Politico.
Alabama’s ACLU, which called the bill “shameful,” threatened to sue should Ivey sign it into law.
BREAKING: SB 184 passes with a 66-28-1 vote. This legislation bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth aged 18 and under. It also requires school administrators to forcibly out trans students.
It will now go to Governor Kay Ivey for a signature. If signed, we will sue. pic.twitter.com/ObZoW2oCfx
— ACLU of Alabama (@ACLUAlabama) April 7, 2022
The second bill Governor Ivey signed was a similar piece of legislation to Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education Act, which restricts sexuality education in public schools and has been mischaracterized by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Alabama’s bill bans sexuality education for grades 5 and below and also bans transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
“Here in Alabama, men use the men’s room, and ladies use the ladies’ room – it’s really a no brainer. This bill will also ensure our elementary school classrooms remain free from any kind of sex talk,” Ivey said in a statement.
“Let me be clear to the media and opponents who like to incorrectly dub this the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ amendment: That is misleading, false and just plain wrong,” she said.
“We don’t need to be teaching young children about sex. We are talking about 5-year-olds for crying out loud. We need to focus on what matters – core instruction like reading and math.”
Sexuality education in schools has become one of the top political agendas for the Republican Party in 2022. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running for re-election in 2022 and is only outranked as the most popular prospective Republican to vie for the 2024 presidential election by former President Donald Trump, has seen a fundraising boom over the last few months as he and the state GOP take up the issue of parental rights in public schools.
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