Alabama lawmakers have been clear about their efforts to ban divisive concepts, radical gender ideology, and inappropriate sexual content in Alabama's classrooms, but clearly, they haven't gone far enough as one school continues to do as it pleases.
In the past three days, numerous lawmakers, including State Rep. Ed Oliver (R-Dadeville, State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) and State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine), have specifically addressed the issue of funding the state's "LGBTQ+ affirming" charter school, Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA), located in Homewood. They have pledged to address this issue in the session that starts this week.
1819 News has previously reported that MCAA is clearly and openly violating current state laws and recent federal guidance from President Donald Trump.
Presumably, due to the increased media coverage, the school has deleted or scrubbed its social media footprint, edited its website and put a second version of its parent/student handbook online, even changing its trademark branding from the school name in rainbow lettering to a simple purple lion.
Both versions of the school's 2024-2025 handbook are currently online, and they tell a very different story.
The language on the homepage has changed in recent days as well as well.
The school has also deleted images from its social media account and all references to its LGBTQ+ and "LGBTQ affirming" agenda from its website. Among the posts deleted are images of students wearing tails, a practice commonly associated with identifying as "furries" or "therians."
This time last year, the school's website featured a prominent button on the top of the page, next to its trademark rainbow logo, linking to the "MCAA Shop." Here's a sampling of merchandise that was available there.
The school hasn't done a comprehensive wipe, though, as its library Instagram page is still online with four pinned reels. Included in one is the promotion of children's books promoting LGBTQ+ issues for children aged 1-5. "Rainbow: A First Book of Pride," geared at young children, seeks to "With bright colors and joyful families, this book celebrates LGBTQ+ pride and reveals the colorful meaning behind each rainbow stripe in a simple and engaging format for young readers. Readers will celebrate the life, healing, light, nature, harmony, and spirit that the rainbows in this book will bring."
The same reel includes an image that claims, "Book bans have a long history, but there has been a recent increase in censorship aimed at books for trans kids and depicting queer families," a second image says on that post says, "Stories about LGBTQIA+ kids and families are said to be 'uncomfortable' or 'too directly political."
Apryl Marie Fogel is a Birmingham resident who frequently appears on and guest hosts radio programs around the state. She can be reached at aprylmarie.fogel@1819news.com or on X and Facebook at @aprylmarie.
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