A state lawmaker has proposed adding Space Camp to a bill currently before the Alabama House which would prohibit discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.
Alabama Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, announced he planned to add the restriction to the bill.
HB130 expands on legislation Alabama passed in 2022, enacting a law similar to the Florida legislation nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay.” The current law prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in K-5 classrooms in Alabama.
This year’s bill would expand the ban through the 12th grade.
Butler earlier this year said his bill is intended to prevent the indoctrination of Alabama youth with information about LGBTQ people.
Critics have spoken out against the expansion prior to Butler suggesting the addition of Space Camp.
“I think that what we’ve been trying to do here in the state is trying to make certain that we don’t make any community feel ostracized or not being loved,” Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said earlier this month.
“This bill actively prevents young queer individuals from having representation in their schools that would help foster a sense of self-confidence and identity. It’s how I got to where I am today,” Cecil Pinkston, a pre-nursing major at UAB, said during a public comment period.
Butler has said the bill is needed “purify the schools.”
“FYI please know we have a plan to address the Space Camp situation and we will address it next week,” Butler wrote on Facebook.
“HB 130 expands our existing K-5 sexual identity and sexual orientation ban to K-12 and we will have an amendment adding Space Camp. This bill will be voted on next week in Education Policy.”
In a longer statement, Butler said “many of us believe it is an inappropriate discussion for any grade.”
“Those issues should be discussed between children and their parents or with families and their clergy, not in a classroom,” he said. “Classrooms are for learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, not for indoctrinating children with beliefs that run counter to fundamental values. We are taught to love one another and we definitely want everyone working but we must be careful in the selection of those who supervise and instruct our students.”
Butler went on to say that, “If there is currently no such instruction or discussion taking place, then no harm and no foul. We simply want the absolute best for our children and for them to have a safe learning environment.”
“Butler implied that referencing the mere existence of queer and transgender people “run[s] counter to fundamental values” — it does not,” Tris Emmy Wilson, organizer of Alabama Trans Rights Action Coalition wrote in an email to AL.com.
“He also rejects a key function of the public education system: teaching children how to appropriately interact with people who are different from themselves,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson added that changing the bill is “a waste of time — because sexuality and gender identity are not subjects that are taught at Space Camp.”
“If the amendment passes, it would only serve to enable more harassment campaigns against innocent queer and transgender Space Camp employees like what we are seeing now. It would make it easier for right-wing groups to baselessly accuse these employees of “indoctrination” simply for having a job and existing as themselves.”
Attempts to reach Space Camp for comment were not immediately successful. The employee at the center of the dispute declined to comment when contacted on Monday by AL.com.
The employee has not been charged or accused of any wrongdoing. In a statement Monday afternoon, the Alabama Space and Rocket Center said it follows federal guidelines and does not discriminate against protected classes when hiring.
“The notion that queer people are out to “indoctrinate,” “groom,” or “recruit” children is a prejudiced falsehood that dates back decades in America and has led to innocent queer people losing their lives and livelihoods,” ALTRAC said.
Several members of Alabama’s Congressional delegation posted statements on X after a parent posted on Facebook complaining about the gender identity of one of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center employees.
Rep. Dale Strong called for the firing of the employee.
“I call on the Center to immediately remove this individual and open a safety review to consider the potential harm and damages they have inadvertently caused children,” Strong said.
Others have spoken out against such comments.
“It is additional fuel poured on the flames of moral panic gripping the right wing of American political discourse, based only in fear and misunderstanding,” ALTRAC’s statement read.
“No one should ever be targeted because of who they are,” Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, posted on social media. His comments came after the controversy began but did not mention Space Camp by name.
“The Equal Protection Clause of the (U.S.) Constitution and the Civil Rights Act require, and common decency demands, that we uphold the civil rights of all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation.”
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