The Alabama Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that puts a politically-appointed board in charge of the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH), as well as a bill that makes it easier for municipalities to fire members of a local library’s board of directors. The bills are widely seen as a response to an ADAH event last year that highlighted LGBTQ+ history in the state, as well as the presence of LGBTQ+ materials in libraries. Both bills will now go to the state’s House of Representatives.
The first bill, SB77 takes aim at the governing structure of the ADAH. Under current law, the ADAH enjoys a degree of independence from the legislature, with two members from each Congressional district and two at-large members appointed by the board themselves and confirmed by the Senate. The governor also serves as a member. The new bill, sponsored by Republican State Senator Chris Elliott, would vacate all current members and restructure the board so it is composed of nine members: the governor and 8 members appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House of Representatives, and speaker pro tempore. This would mean that the ADAH would be governed by a board of political appointees from the same party, as Republicans hold all the positions mentioned in the bill.
The Alabama Senate Republican Caucus celebrated the bill in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “State-funded institutions are meant to reflect the will of the people. Yet, the Department of Archives and History has blatantly disregarded Alabama’s longstanding commitment to preserving our history and instead promoted their own social agenda.”
This is likely a reference to an event that the ADAH hosted last year as part of their “Food for Thought” lecture series. The event, “Invisible No More: Alabama’s LGBTQ+ History,” explored LGBTQ+ history in Alabama and garnered significant criticism from the state’s Republican leadership. Elliott even proposed a bill that would strip the agency of $5 million in funding over the event, although that bill did not pass.
At the time, ADAH Director Steve Murray defended the event, saying it was “neither indoctrination nor politicization.” Maigen Sullivan, who cofounded the Birmingham-based Invisible Histories Project and spoke at the event, told local media, “I really just went over things that are quite black and white. It’s just a record of history, and so I find it mind-boggling that anyone would interpret facts as a political agenda.”
There was significant opposition to SB77, despite its passage, with local media reporting that every speaker at a public hearing on Tuesday opposed the bill. One of the speakers was Delores R. Boyd, a retired attorney, former US magistrate judge and the chair of the ADAH’s current board. She questioned the need for SB77, saying:
What is the compelling problem or need warranting such a radical change? Nothing in the bill documents or even suggests any fraud, mismanagement or improprieties which implicate agency’s staff or trustees. There can be no credible complaint that the agency is not fulfilling each of the objects and purposes outlined in the originating statute.
Senator Linda Coleman-Madison (D) argued that the bill risked politicizing the state’s history, saying, “I think if we go down this slippery slope, one of these days we’re going to find out that maybe our own history or our ancestors’ history is also being taken away or not recorded accurately because we have made it a political football.”
In addition to SB77, the state Senate also passed SB10, which makes it easier for local authorities to fire members of a library’s governing board if they are unsatisfied with their performance. This comes amid a pushback against diverse literature, especially LGBTQ+ topics, and as the American Library Association expressed alarm at the increase in censorship in libraries and schools.
Alabama is one of many states that have passed legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community. Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an LGBTQ+ rights group, declared a state of emergency last year, echoing concerns from a UN expert that LGBTQ+ rights in the US were being “deliberately undermined” by state governments. LGBTQ+ rights in the US are falling more and more along state and partisan lines, with HRC calling Republican-controlled states “increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ people.” State legislators introduced more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2023, a historic high.
