The Alabama governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill into law in effect banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across public schools, universities and state agencies, the latest move in a wave of a Republican-led legislation that aims to restrict diversity efforts.
The law, known as SB129, imposes restrictions around what it calls eight “divisive concepts”, including assigning “fault, blame or bias” to any race, religion, gender or color, or discussions of whether “slavery and racism are aligned with the founding principles of the United States”. It authorizes state agencies to “discipline or terminate employees or contractors who violate this act”.
It also requires higher education institutions to designate bathrooms “for use based on biological sex”, essentially barring trans people from using public bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
The governor signed the bill after the Republican-led state legislature gave final approval on Tuesday. The law will take effect on 1 October.
In a statement, Ivey said her administration “will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity”, but vowed to stop “bad actors on college campuses … to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe”.
The bill faced vehement opposition from Democrats, civil rights advocates and student groups, who said the bill was a thinly veiled attempt to sabotage free speech and diversity efforts.
The free-speech advocacy organization Pen America compared the bill to Florida’s Stop Woke Act, which regulated how race and race issues can be taught in schools until it was blocked in court earlier this month. SB129 is “even more restrictive”, it said. “The result would be a campus environment devoid of intellectual freedom, and a state law so draconian that it gives Florida a run for its money.”
Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin said he would encourage Black athletes to consider attending other institutions outside of the state.
“Why would you make it illegal for institutions of higher learning to promote diversity and inclusion among its faculty and staff? Why would you block fair representation and opportunities for all people?” he wrote in a Facebook post last month.
The ACLU of Alabama said SB129 was intended to have a “chilling effect” on discourse regarding race, class, sexuality and national origin, writing on its website: “This is not only a form of classroom censorship, it’s an anti-truth bill which curtails an education on systemic inequities, racial violence and the historic efforts to gain civil rights and civil liberties for marginalized communities throughout our nation’s history.”
