Alabama legislators spent the day debating different legislation, but two bills that impact LGBTQ people only received about 15 minutes of discussion on the floor Thursday.

House Bills 67 and 244, both described by supporters as parental rights legislation, would ban drag performances and cross-dressing in schools and would expand Alabama’s current “Don’t Say Gay” law to include older students.

Lawmakers approved HB67, the anti-drag bill, on a 76-9 vote with no discussion. HB244, filed by Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, drew some opposition but ultimately passed on a 74-15 vote. Both bills will head to the Senate.

The drag performance bill

HB67, sponsored by Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, would prohibit public K-12 schools and libraries from “knowingly presenting or sponsoring” drag performances in the presence of a minor without their parent’s consent.”

The bill defines a drag performance as any performance in which “a performer exhibits a sex identity that is different from the sex assigned to the performer at birth using clothing, makeup, or other physical markers.”

It also would prevent certain state entities from allowing minors to share facilities with members of the opposite sex during overnight programs.

The addition follows a 2024 controversy, where conservative politicians targeted a transgender Space Camp employee after a parent complained the worker would be in the same living quarters as their child. An investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.

In a previous statement opposing the bill, the Alabama Transgender Rights Action Coalition urged lawmakers “to stop using their power to pick on transgender children.”

“Trans kids do not deserve to be humiliated by state law that ignorantly declares them opposite the gender they know themselves to be — they deserve to be themselves. Alabama already denies them life-saving therapy and medical care and is trying to erase all mention of people like them from its archives and libraries,” the statement read.

The organization said vague definitions in the bill could lead to broad interpretations if the legislation passes.

“For example, a girl dressing up as George Washington for a classroom presentation would be in violation of this law,” the organization said, noting it could also impact dress codes and other school policies. “In their effort to target drag by any means necessary, legislators have once again painted themselves into a corner with ignorance, and they are getting ever nearer to violating the First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.”

Expanding ‘Don’t Say Gay’

Alabama already limits certain discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms. Butler’s bill, HB244, would expand the law to include all grades, from pre-K to 12. It also prevents school employees from displaying Pride flags or other LGBTQ-affirming signage.

After debate and some pushback from education officials, the bill will no longer ban education employees from using pronouns that do not correspond to a student’s gender at birth. A new amendment also clarifies that topics about gender identity may be discussed, but only in a manner that is age appropriate and aligned with state standards.

Three Democrats spoke against the bill, including Neil Rafferty, Alabama’s only openly gay lawmaker to currently serve in the state legislature.

“They’re people. They’re our people. They’re Alabamians. And they are better than what we are offering them right now,” he said. “When we strip their identities from the classroom, we are telling them that the best they can hope for is silence.”

Turning toward the rafters, Rafferty said he had a message for other queer youth, who, like he did, might be struggling with “feeling different” in Alabama.

“I promise it will get better,” he said. “You’re not flawed. You’re not going to Hell. You’re not meant to be hidden. We love you, we support you, we believe in you, and we’ll keep fighting until the state is big enough and brave enough to love all its children.”

Butler filed a similar bill last year, but it never made it to a final vote. In response to questions on the floor Thursday, Butler said the bill was meant to “stop the indoctrination that has taken place with gender identity and sexual orientation.”

He said he had gotten complaints from students who were frustrated about their school’s curriculum. Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, however, claimed no students had brought the topic up in conversations or in a survey the legislature sent out to high schoolers across the state.

Ensler, who is Jewish, asked if educators could teach students that LGBTQ people were murdered during the Holocaust. Butler said they could, and that the bill would not infringe on any First Amendment rights.

He said the bill is ultimately about parents’ rights to make decisions for their children.

According to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research organization, at least eight other states have passed or introduced similar laws aimed at restricting pronoun use and preferred names as of early March. More than a dozen have passed broader “parents bill of rights” legislation, many of which prohibit students from learning about LGBTQ topics in the classroom.

Ensler said the bill could have deadly consequences, particularly for transgender youth.

In Alabama, LGBTQ high schoolers are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide compared to their peers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest youth risk behavior survey. But recent research has shown that having access to affirming spaces in schools or classrooms can reduce those odds by as much as 40%.

“Whatever the content of this bill is, it sends a message to LGBTQ youth that they are not welcome,” Ensler said.

“I don’t know of any teacher that doesn’t accept all their students. The point is, classroom discussion and instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation does not belong there. And I would say the cases are very few and far between, but they are absolutely happening, and there is a need for this piece of legislation.”

Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Madison, asked if Butler had considered people who are intersex and continue to struggle to get their accurate pronouns and sex markers recognized on official documentation.

“I know you’re a person of compassion,” she said to him, “But this bill isn’t a bill of compassion. It is a cruel bill. It is a soul-killing bill.”

If passed, HB67 would take effect in October 2025, while HB244 would go into effect in July.