Latest news with #SenateCountyandMunicipalGovernmentCommittee
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate committee amends drag performance ban over theater concerns
Sen. Chris Elliot, R-Josephine, chair of the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee, listens to testimony on HB 67, sponsored by Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, which would ban drag performances in public libraries, on April 29, 2025 in Montgomery, Ala. (Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that prohibits public libraries from presenting or sponsoring drag performances in the presence of minors without parental consent. As initially filed, HB 67, sponsored by Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, would have prohibited such performances in public libraries as well as K-12 schools. After concerns that the bill could impact school theater productions — with one high school switching a planned 'Peter and the Starcatcher' production to avoid conflict with the potential bill — the bill was amended to prohibit drag performances only in public libraries and libraries in public K-12 schools. 'What the amendment does is limit the effectiveness of this bill to where the problem is occurring … it just it talks about libraries instead of K-12 institutions, and I think that will solve, broadly, our theater program problems in all K-12 schools,' Sen. Chris Elliot, R-Josephine, the chair of the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee, which approved the bill. Elliott did not say where libraries are hosting drag performances. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Several people spoke against the bill in a public hearing and criticized its definition of drag performances as 'a 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.' Opponents said that was an excessively broad definition. Zephyr Scalzetti, a transgender man from Huntsville, asked if the clothes he wears would be considered drag under the bill's definition. Pointing to the 'What is a Woman Act,' Scalzetti asked if he should wear a dress to his local library. 'Where is the line between what I'm wearing today and drag? Is my beard drag, since it's a male physical marker, the very hair that grows out of my face? The answer to that question in this bill is left entirely up to libraries to determine individually,' Scalzetti said. Opponents also raised potential legal challenges related to First Amendment rights and equal protection, with some arguing that similar laws have been deemed unconstitutional in the past. 'Whether you call this a drag ban, a crossdressing ban, a masquerade law or a three article rule, courts have ruled these laws unconstitutional for 50 years,' said Opelika resident Chris Hathcock. Ted Halley, who said he 'detransitioned' back to male after 12 years of identifying as a woman, claimed that 'drag shows are grooming children to be transgender' and incentivize children to transition. Halley did not say whether a drag queen incentivized him to identify as a woman. 'Drag queen story hour, whether it's in school, which I think you should put it back in, or a library, is very dangerous,' Halley claimed. Detransition and regret are different concepts, a Harvard Medical School study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests, which may overlap in some people, but they are 'sometimes mistakenly viewed as synonymous.' Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, asked how consent would be obtained and in what situations it would be required. She said that she hosts events for seniors and her sorority in the Bessemer Public Library, and they may bring children with them to some events that could potentially be in conflict with the bill. 'It's a public library. There can be minors, and a lot of my seniors take care of their grandchildren. They may bring them to the event with them,' Coleman said, adding that it's the same case with some sorority events. Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, said the legislation is a 'cultural distraction' that distracts from more pressing concerns. He said that he is 'absolutely concerned' with lawmakers not 'paying attention to the fact that we are not living– we are not living in normal times.' He said that parents should be deciding what events their children attend. 'Here we are talking about what parents can decide and attempting to codify this into law. I am embarrassed by this … That is shameful. That is not what our government should be doing,' Hatcher said. The bill goes to the full Senate for consideration. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate committee approves bill restricting picketing, protests
Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, the chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee, speaks to reporters after a presentation on the state's fiscal condition on Feb. 5, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee Wednesday approved Orr's bill to set restrictions on picketing and protests on April 2, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A Senate committee approved a bill on Wednesday that restricts when, where and how a group can picket and protest. SB 247, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, prohibits protesters from using noise amplifiers, being too close to the residence of the subject of the protest 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise, and from blocking roads for the protest. Orr filed similar legislation in the previous two legislative sessions. In 2023, the bill passed the Senate but did not receive a vote in the House. In 2024, it was indefinitely postponed in a Senate committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'The first version was filed in response to the Justice (Brett) Kavanaugh hearings where people went to his house and were demonstrating outside at all hours of the night,' Orr said. 'I thought how intimidating would that be whether you're an elected person or unelected it doesn't matter.' The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee heard from one critic of the legislation during a public hearing. Camille Bennett, executive director of Project Say Something, an advocacy group for change focusing on Black history and anti-racism training, said the legislation was too vague and unconstitutional. 'SB 247 is not only a bad bill but an assault on the First Amendment rights and voices of marginalized Alabamians,' Bennett said. Bennett said peaceful protests will always be near a residence in rural Alabama. 'Alabama is the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Black folk in Alabama understand the necessity of exercising our First Amendment rights as a pathway to freedom and navigation through white supremacist systems,' Bennett said. 'We have apartments and residential housing within an earshot of any of our protests including parks and our local courthouse.' Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, said that is especially true in cities like Birmingham that have lofts and apartments downtown. 'There's so many lofts downtown so where would you actually go to have even a peaceful protest in downtown Birmingham and not be near a residence,' Coleman said. Orr rebutted saying people can still protest in public parks and other areas. 'There's plenty of places to make your sentiments known,' Orr said. Coleman said the legislation could violate the First Amendment and warned against restricting the right to protest on the state level. 'I just don't want us, especially right now, especially nationally when some people feel as if our First Amendment rights are being infringed upon, just being able to say what we believe,' she said. 'I don't know if we should be doing that on a state level as well, especially in Alabama.' Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, said the bill was too vague and suggested an amendment to set a limit on noise levels. The bill currently says that local law enforcement can deem what is too loud. 'It's not specific so you allow the local governments to make that determination,' Coleman-Madison said. The bill was approved 5-2. Coleman and Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Birmingham, voted against the approval, and Coleman-Madison abstained. It will now be considered by the full Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
