North Carolina takes different path than Alabama on transgender ‘solution in search of problem’
Updated Apr 30, 2021;
Alabama lawmakers who proposed a bill banning transgender athletes on public school teams said their purpose was to protect girls from a competitive disadvantage.
They cited no specific examples in Alabama of transgender girls competing on girls’ teams. But the bill passed and Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law.
Other states have passed similar legislation. But in North Carolina, the Legislature took a different course after the lack of prevalent examples became clear.
“We’re not really hearing any complaints about that where it’s an issue,” North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore told the Associated Press on Wednesday. Moore said the House would not vote on the bill that was called the “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
Language calling homosexuality illegal and unacceptable will be struck from the state s laws on sex education under a measure signed by Gov. Kay Ivey this week.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, removes a paragraph dating from 1992 that requires courses on human reproduction and sexual education to emphasize that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state.
The bill passed the Alabama House 69 to 30 on March 2. It passed the Senate 18 to 6 on April 20. It will go into effect July 1.
In the Montgomery delegation, Reps. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road; Kelvin Lawrence, D-Hayneville; Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery; Charlotte Meadows, R-Montgomery; Tashina Morris, D-Montgomery and Chris Sells, R-Greenville voted for the bill. In the Senate, Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road voted against the bill. Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, voted for it.
Curbside voting ban stalls in Alabama Senate as other voting bills pass
The Montgomery Advertiser 1 hr ago Brian Lyman, Montgomery Advertiser
The Alabama Senate on Thursday passed a number of election-related bills that, among other items, narrow the timeframe for absentee ballot applications and ban voting out of state.
But a measure to ban curbside voting stalled after Democrats in the chamber pushed back, saying it would make it more difficult for pregnant women and those with disabilities to vote. While you talk about the security of the ballot, I say we are making it less accessible for people to have that right to vote, said Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro.
Alabama Senate delays vote on curbside voting ban
KIM CHANDLER , Associated Press
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Alabama lawmakers on Thursday delayed a vote on a proposal to ban curbside voting as the state became the latest to debate new restrictions on voting.
The debate in the state that was home to key events in the voting rights movement reflected divisions playing out in statehouses nationwide as Republican states seek to enact restrictions in the name of election integrity and Democrats push measures to make voting easier.
The Alabama Senate delayed a vote in the face of a Democratic filibuster. No Alabama counties are known to have used curbside voting in the last election, but groups have sought the authorization of the method to make it easier for the elderly, disabled, and parents with young children to cast ballots.