Alabama’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ expansn will not happen this year, lawmaker says

ALABAMA ERNOR SIGNS 'DON'T SAY GAY,' TRANS RE AND BATHROOM BAN BILLS

* alabama gay bill *

The language mirrors the ntroversial so-lled "Don't Say Gay" bills poppg up across the took issue wh that characterizatn, sayg a statement, "Let me be clear to the media and opponents who like to rrectly dub this the 'Don't Say Gay' amendment: That is misleadg, false and jt pla wrong.

""We jt don't thk 's appropriate to be talkg about homosexualy and genr inty, " Shelnutt said.

ALABAMA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: WHAT WOULD DO; READ THE TEXT

"The language is siar to a Florida bill that crics have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill. "Acrdg to your amendment, they won’t be able to answer the qutn that lawmakers approve bill that crimaliz genr-affirmg re for trans youthOPINION:Florida's 'don't say gay' law and other rtrictns hurt kids and drive away teachersSenate Republins quickly clotured, or end, bate over the amendment.

"MORE:Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill sparked natnal backlash. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTNeil Rafferty’s paful experience as a young man fluenced his efforts to block new rtrictns on gay and transgenr youth. That legislatn also limed classroom discsns on genr and sexual orientatn, siar to a Florida measure rid by crics as “Don’t Say Gay.

Kay Ivey, a Republin, signed both measur the followg legislatn, now facg legal challeng, is part of a wave of bills about gay and transgenr youth beg bated and some s approved by nservative lawmakers across the untry. Rafferty, a Democrat and the only openly gay member of the Alabama Legislature, the new laws reprented not jt a polil feat but a eply personal one, too — a velopment he had trouble discsg whout Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser, via Associated Prs“I jt still don’t really know how to feel other than jt feel angry and worried about all the kids and their fai who have been reachg out to me, ” he said. Rafferty, 37, told his lleagu about the difficulty of growg up gay Alabama, was om paful personal and raised Birmgham, he first me out as gay 1998.

FOR ALABAMA’S ONLY GAY LAWMAKER, A POLIL DEFEAT WAS DEEPLY PERSONAL

He ran for the Legislature 2018, beg only the send openly gay lawmaker elected the state. Rafferty, too, has spent his term the Legislature workg to prevent new rtrictns on gay and transgenr young people. He nnected nstuents wh Republin proponents of the measur, hopg to change the lawmakers’ mds by makg them more fortable wh gay and transgenr people and explag the burns they said such legislatn would create.

”His efforts were weled by gay and transgenr rints, who saw him as a sgularly important ally. ”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 21 of the New York edn wh the headle: For Alabama’s Only Gay Lawmaker, a Polil Defeat Was Deeply Personal. Another bill, which requir K-12 stunts to e bathrooms signated for their blogil sex, clud a last-hour amendment Thursday crics have pared to siar legislatn Florida dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Opponents of the measure nmned s passage, wh the ACLU of Alabama sayg, “It also vok legislatn siar to Florida’s ntroversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill by banng classroom stctn or discsn of genr inty public elementary schools. “Let me be clear to the media and opponents who like to rrectly dub this the “Don’t Say Gay” amendment: That is misleadg, false and jt pla wrong, ” Ivery said. The Alabama Legislature passed two bills Thursday that are mash-ups of siar bills other stat that target LGBTQ classroom discsn and transgenr the last day of the legislative ssn, the state Senate passed what LGBTQ advot have scribed as a bed "bathroom bill" and "Don't Say Gay" bill.