Louisiana lawmaker behind Ten Commandments bill is eyeing more culture war wins

The Louisiana lawmaker behind the radical new law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms across her state is no stranger to the culture wars.

State Rep. Dodie Horton, a Republican from Haughton, Louisiana, is also one of the prime movers behind her state’s bill prohibiting teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation from kindergarten to 12th grade. Referred to by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” a similar law became well-known after it was passed in Florida.

It’s now awaiting the signature of Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a conservative Republican who on Wednesday signed the Ten Commandments legislation into law.

Civil liberties groups are already lining up to challenge the constitutionality of both laws that Horton has been backing. And they have precedent on their side — back in 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional.

NBC News has reached out to Horton. But in earlier interviews, Horton has been unapologetic about pushing religion into public schools.

“I’m not concerned with an atheist. I’m not concerned with a Muslim,” Horton, who is a Southern Baptist, said during a House debate in April. “I’m concerned with our children looking and seeing what God’s law is.”

Still, the law also could face some liturgical challenges because the newlysigned statute calls for posting the version of the Ten Commandments that Protestants use, which is slightly different from the versions that Catholics and Jews use.

The daughter of a Shreveport, Louisiana, police officer, Horton is a 67-year-old married mother of three and grandmother of four whose heavily Protestant district in northwestern Louisiana is geographically and