Republican lawmaker blames drop in school enrollment on LGBTQ curriculum

An Alabama state GOP lawmaker says expanding the current “Don’t Say Gay” law would stop the record drop in school enrollment.

State Rep. Mack Butler of Rainbow City has filed legislation to expand the “Don’t Say Gay” law, first passed in 2021, from K-5 classrooms to all public school grades, according to the Alabama Reflector:

“Butler said in an interview Wednesday the bill is meant to help public schools focus on educating students and claimed that the recent enrollment decline partially comes from parents who are unsatisfied with LGBTQ content in schools. Alabama public officials have not said that was a reason for the drop in the K-12 population.”

Rep. Butler added, “as you’re seeing with the decreased enrollment, and a lot of it’s the CHOOSE Act and the virtual school or home schooling, but there absolutely is a dissatisfaction with what we’re doing, and I see this as helping public education get them back to their actual core charge.”

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The “Don’t Say Gay” legislation would “prohibit classroom instruction or discussions related to gender identity or sexual orientation from being provided to public school students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade.”

It would “prohibit public preK-12 teachers and education employees from displaying a flag or insignia relating to sexual orientation or gender identity on school property,” and “prohibit public preK-12 teachers and education employees from referring to a student by pronouns inconsistent with the student’s biological sex at birth.”

The Reflector also reported that the “Alabama Legislature in the last five years has passed several laws targeting LGBTQ+ people, including the original ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law passed in 2021 and a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth the following year.”

According to BillTrack, Butler also has sponsored legislation prohibiting “schools and public libraries from presenting or sponsoring drag performances,” a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public schools, a bill requiring the “broadcast of the Star-Spangled Banner” weekly, and several bills related to religious exemptions for vaccine requirements.

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