The bill, known as SB129, bans publicly-funded institutions from maintaining DEI offices or teaching what the bill calls ‘divisive concepts’ about race and identity.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in publicly-funded colleges, making the southern state one of the newest Republican-led states to enact broad measures against what they claim is a leftward tilt in the US education.
The bill, known as SB129, bans institutions from maintaining DEI offices or teaching what the bill calls “divisive concepts” about race and identity, including 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” the law.
It also requires them to designate toilets as only for men or women, a move against transgender rights advocates’ push for gender-neutral toilets.
“My administration has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors … go under the acronym of DEI, using unpaid funds, to push their liberal political movement,” Ivey said in a statement.
The law is due to take effect in October.