Overview
- HB23 would extend Alabama’s current K–5 restrictions on classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation to all public school grades.
- The bill would prohibit Pride flag displays on school property and bar teachers and staff from using pronouns that differ from a student’s sex at birth.
- Rep. Mack Butler argues the expansion could help reverse declining public school enrollment, a claim state officials have not adopted.
- State education leaders report a year-over-year drop of more than 5,800 students for 2025–26, citing CHOOSE Act homeschooling and students who enrolled but did not attend.
- Prefiled for the 2026 session beginning Jan. 13, the proposal follows a similar 2025 bill that did not become law, drew mostly opposition in a Senate Education Policy meeting, and includes allowances for age-appropriate, student-initiated conversations requested by the Education Department.