On Monday, October 28, State Reps. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) and Susan DuBose (R-Hoover) will join Attorney General Steve Marshall’s chief council, Katherine Robertson, at St. Joseph’s Church in Prattville for the “Take Back Alabama town hall” to discuss the ongoing and upcoming legislative efforts to combat gender ideology in public schools and libraries.
Prattville served as the epicenter of the now-statewide debate over sexually explicit books in public libraries. That debate spawned the statewide organization Clean Up Alabama, one of the town hall hosts. Moms for Liberty and Local Alabama are also assisting in the event.
Butler received criticism during the 2024 legislative session for his efforts to ban classroom instruction or discuss gender identity or sexual orientation in public schools. He also tried to use the bill to combat a then-controversy in the state surrounding a biological male who identified as a female who was working as a camp counselor at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Space Camp.
Butler told 1819 News he would talk about his plans to ban gender ideology discussions and instruction in Alabama classrooms during the town hall, saying he fully expected the bill to reach the finish line in 2025.
The bill initially restricted K-12 schools. However, it was amended last at the request of the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) to apply to kindergarten through eighth grade due to the state's high school health curriculum. Butler said the 2025 version of the bill would revert to its original, applying to K-12 classroom instruction.
“I hope we won’t have to dilute it down any,” Butler said. “The [ALSDE] asked me to change it last year; they were saying because of health class. But, months ago, I reached out back to [ALSDE] to talk about doing it K-12 and just doing a carve-out for health classes. Just something; I’m not sure what that would look like. To this point, they have never gotten back to me, so I’m planning on going full speed ahead, just like I originally intended. This bill does not prevent a student from discussing anything. It prohibits the discussion and instruction from the classroom.”
He continued, “Here in my district, I just had a student tell me recently about a teacher that has trouble with the curriculum because of instructing on all things of that agenda; the LGBT whatever agenda. It’s just inappropriate. Why don’t we do the curriculum and leave it at that? But if a student wants to talk to an adult or a counselor, they will still be able to do that.”
DuBose has also made a name for herself in the House after championing several causes related to men competing in female sports and other female-only spaces.
Her "What is a Woman" Act defining "male" and "female" failed to get a floor vote due to gambling interests eating up time. The bill still earned her a significant amount of pushback from Democratic lawmakers. Despite that, she plans to refile the bill in 2025, this time with fewer concessions.
See Also: 'I think I was maybe too nice': State Rep. DuBose to refile 'What is a Woman' bill next session
DuBose told 1819 News that the format would include a discussion of her and Butler’s attempts to advance their legislation in the upcoming session and a time of questions and answers with attendees. She also plans on presenting a new bill that has yet to be filed.
“I’m going to discuss my bills next session regarding the area of protecting women’s spaces, which defines male and female biologically, and it puts that in Alabama code,” Dubose said.
“I’m also going to discuss a new bill that I haven’t talked about a lot. That bill will protect women’s spaces in public areas that are really funded by taxpayer dollars. So, on the educational side, think about dorm rooms. It will also apply to things like women’s prisons and juvenile detention centers. Any overnight accommodations where minors are involved where state agencies come into play like Space Camp, the camp that they have at our battleship down in Mobile, the camps at the Dauphin Island Research Center, and stuff like that. All of those places we want to make sure that males and females have safe spaces separated by biological sex."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
