*This is reported by LGBTQNation

The Alabama state House of Representatives passed several anti-LGBTQ+ bills this past Thursday. The bills include an expansion of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, a ban on drag performances, a ban on Pride flags, and a ban on school employees calling trans students by the correct pronouns.

One of the bills would also require the Ten Commandments to be posted in every school in the state.

H.B. 244 extends the state’s ban on discussing LGBTQ+ people in schools, which currently only applies to grades K through 5, to all grade levels. It also bans school employees from “displaying flags or insignia relating to sexual orientation or gender identity,” which would include Pride flags. It also bans school employees from referring to a student with pronouns or a “title” that is “inconsistent with the student’s biological sex at birth.”

State Rep. Mark Gidley (R) said that the bill was necessary because an unnamed student told him that they have a teacher who can’t teach without mentioning “all things gay and transgender.” Gidley didn’t say what school this happened in.

State Rep. Neil Rafferty (D), the only out gay person in the chamber, said that LGBTQ+ people are “not the problem.”

“I want you to know you are not the problem. You are not broken, and you’re absolutely not alone,” he said. “They’re not theories. They’re not talking points, not threats to be neutralized. They’re people. They’re Alabamian, and they deserve better than what we are offering them right now.”

State Rep. Phillip Ensler (D) said that the bill will make kids feel unwelcome in schools.

“If they don’t trust a teacher, if they think a teacher doesn’t like them or use them differently or views them as unequal, they’re not going to be as open to learning,” he said.

The bill passed with 76 votes in favor and nine against.

H.B. 67 bans public schools and libraries from hosting drag performances in the presence of minors without parental consent, and also says that trans people must use the restroom associated with their sex assigned at birth in places where minors might use the restroom. It also passed 76-9.

“This bill is an attempt to censor LGBTQ experiences from the public and is contradictory to our First Amendment rights,” the ACLU of Alabama said in a statement. “Supporters of this bill argue that drag performances are not appropriate for minors. That’s a decision for that minor’s parents, caregivers, and family to make – not the State of Alabama.”

On the same day, the chamber passed H.B. 178, a bill that would require all public schools in the state, both K-12 schools as well as colleges and universities, to display the Ten Commandments in “a common area.” The bill doesn’t give schools funding for this and instead suggests that they seek donations.

“The First Amendment guarantees that students and their families —not politicians or the government—get to decide which religious beliefs, if any, they adopt and what role those beliefs will play in their lives,” the ACLU of Alabama said in a statement. “Displaying the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms blatantly violates this promise. Students can’t focus on learning if they don’t feel safe and welcome in their schools.”

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gidley, also requires schools to display a statement near the Ten Commandments that says they are “a key part of the Judeo-Christian religious and moral tradition that shaped Western Civilization and ultimately the founding of the United States.”

“This is about returning foundational principles to schools to be taught,” Gidley said about his bill.

Democrats called the bill a distraction.

“We’re focusing on issues that really don’t put more money in the pockets of every Alabamian,” said House minority leader Anthony Daniels (D). “It does not reduce the cost at the gas pump. We’re talking about solving problems for the average Alabamanian. This particular issue does nothing.”

One Democrat pointed out that the Ten Commandments aren’t age-appropriate for younger children.

“I think that the 10 commandments have their place, but I don’t know that we need to mandate that they be in our schools,” said state Rep. Marilyn Lands (D), the Alabama Reflector reports. “I think we teach our children well in our homes, and I think we have churches to teach them, but I’m not sure that they belong in our schools.”

The bill passed the state house 88-11. All three bills now go on to the state senate.

Louisiana passed a similar bill regarding the Ten Commandments last year, requiring them to be displayed in every classroom in the state. A federal judge blocked the bill from taking effect, saying it was “unconstitutional on its face.”