Alabama Strikes Controversy as Schools Display Ten Commandments and Ban Pride Flags
Alabama lawmakers recently passed three bills that would require K-12 schools to display the Ten Commandments in entryways or classrooms, ban LGBT pride flags, and restrict discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The bills, House Bill 178, House Bill 244, House Bill 67, also prohibit teachers from using preferred pronouns that differ from a student's biological sex and restrict minors from sharing overnight facilities with members of the opposite sex. All three bills now await Senate approval.
"This is about returning foundational principles to schools to be taught," Rep. Mark Gidley said, a Republican and former pastor who sponsored bill 178.
The American Civil Liberties Union strongly criticized the move, calling it "unconstitutional, plain and simple," The Christian Post reports.
"The First Amendment guarantees that students and their families — not politicians or the government — get to decide which religious beliefs, if any, they adopt and what role those beliefs will play in their lives," the ACLU stated. "Displaying the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms blatantly violates this promise. Students can't focus on learning if they don't feel safe and welcome in their schools."
Rep. Patrick Sellers, the one Democrat who supported the legislation, agreed students should learn the Ten Commandments in light of its values. Sellers, who previously served as pastor at both Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church and the Cathedral of Faith Baptist Church, contended that reminding children of these values can give them something that has been "missing" in their lives.
"These are principles that our children need, and even if it's just looking at it on the wall to remind them of what they are and how they should live from day to day," Sellers said in a Thursday statement on the House floor. "That's what's missing in our schools. That's what's missing in our homes, that's what's missing in our families."
Several states have also recently enacted laws requiring Ten Commandment display in public school classrooms, including Arkansas and Louisiana.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/JackF
Originally published April 22, 2025.
