Alabama Republicans Push Forward An Anti-DEI Bill

Alabama lawmakers are pushing forward a bill that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and offices in certain public entities, state agencies and universities, joining anti-DEI efforts led by Republicans in states across the country.

Senate Bill 129 would prohibit state agencies and colleges from funding diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and initiatives that advocate “divisive concepts,” which are defined as topics of race, ethnicity, sex, national origin or religion.

The bill also folds in a requirement for students attending public universities to use bathrooms that align with their biological sex, which targets transgender students and, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), reflects legislation that has been introduced in 19 other states this year.

Republican proponents of the Alabama bill argue that diversity, equity and inclusion ideologies in colleges and universities are divisive and a form of indoctrination that fails to welcome students of different backgrounds, a stance that has been echoed by GOP lawmakers in other states that are pushing anti-DEI legislation.

“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” State Senator Will Barfoot, one of the Republican lawmakers who sponsored the bill, said in a statement . “This legislation will build bridges to celebrate what people have in common, not erect walls that silo people into the idea that their race, religion, and sexual orientation solely define who they are and how society should view them.”

But opponents of the Alabama bill, including Alabama Democrats who have attempted to amend it,