SALON

Thursday, Mar 21, 2013 9:27 PM UTC

Alabama sex education law requires teachers to say that being gay is illegal

Students and lawmakers want to repeal a 1992 law that claims being gay is a crime and "not publicly acceptable" VIDEO

By

Topics: Video, LGBT, LGBT Rights, Gay Rights, Education, , ,

Alabama sex education law requires teachers to say that being gay is illegal (Credit: YouTube)

Two Alabama high school students and an unlikely team of state legislators want to repeal a 1992 law requiring educators to teach that being gay is a crime and “not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public.” While there is no evidence to suggest that the sex education law is currently being enforced, the students still want to see the misleading (and hateful) language removed.

High school activists Sarah Noone and Adam Pratt think the law promotes anti-gay bullying, and a bipartisan team in the state legislature may help them in their effort to repeal it — but for very different reasons.

State Rep. Patricia Todd, a Democrat and Alabama’s first openly gay state legislator, thinks the law is offensive and wants sex education requirements to be decided by educators. But State Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, a Republican and social conservative who may co-sponsor the repeal effort, just doesn’t want schools teaching students about sex, period.

As reported by the Anniston Star:

Both sides see something to gain in the change. For McClurkin, the elimination of state requirements would free local districts to teach sex education as they see fit — or not at all, if district leaders wish. McClurkin acknowledged that she wouldn’t want any district to teach that homosexuality and heterosexuality are morally equivalent, but she said that’s unlikely to happen in most Alabama districts. She said the state places too many mandates on teachers.

“There’s a long list of things we require from them,” McClurkin said. “And sex education is one topic that’s best taught in the home.”

Todd, who has spent much of her career working in AIDS outreach, said she doesn’t want to eliminate sex education entirely from students’ lives. Still, she said, sex education in Alabama schools already seems to be done very unevenly.

“In some places it’s taught in science class, in other places it’s done in health,” she said. “In some places it’s taught by the basketball coach and in some places the kids aren’t getting anything.”

And if followed to the letter, she said, the current law would have educators teaching something that is false.

“I’m just telling them they shouldn’t be teaching things that are incorrect,” Todd said.

You can watch Noone and Pratt’s video statement on the repeal effort here:

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 14 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Judge tells lesbian couple to separate or lose kids: "unmarried sexual relationships -- including straight ones – can be grounds for losing child custody"
176 points177 points | 30 comments
vote
Developers evict historic women’s shelter to build luxury hotel - The 104-yr-old Anna Louise Inn has ended its 2-year legal battle with a Fortune 500 company & will now move. Many view the victory of the insurance company over a community touchstone as a major blow to the city.
28 points29 points | 2 comments
vote
Anonymous rallies behind Kaitlyn Hunt
25 points26 points | 33 comments
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford food
13 points14 points | comment
vote
I don’t hate millennials anymore! <--- not my words, but good read on Gen X. IMO
10 points11 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations