Alabama

Alabama House committee holds public hearings on bills limiting sex and gender instruction • Alabama Reflector

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2024

Alabama House committee holds public hearings on bills limiting sex and gender instruction • Alabama Reflector

An Alabama House committee Wednesday held public hearings on two bills that could restrict sex and gender instruction in public schools, though neither came to a vote.

HB 130, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would prohibit classroom instruction for any K-12 student “regarding sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The bill expands a “Don’t Say Gay” law banning those discussions in kindergarten through fifth grade, a measure added in the last hours of the 2022 legislative session to a “bathroom bill.” Butler’s bill is a more limited version of legislation that did not pass out of committee last year.

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Butler said that “indoctrination” was happening in schools, and his bill would allow schools to focus on core subjects.

“It is happening all over and it is a component of Marxism, destroying the family in teaching some of these things, let it happen somewhere else other than our schools,” he said to the House Education Policy Committee.

Opponents of the bill said it could keep LGBTQ children from having access to safe space with teachers and could have unintended consequences on limiting discussion of any sexual identity or gender.

Jordan Price said the bill was part of a plan to erase LGBTQ people, and said it could also prevent the teaching of notable women.

“Every first lady would be doubly erased if we weren’t allowed to mention that they were married to men nor that they were women themselves,” Price said.

Proponents of the bill said that it would protect children.

Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl said that he felt it was a “common sense bill.”

“I think this bill just strengthens the law that’s already in place and goes a little bit further making sure that we keep a political agenda or a social agenda out of our schools,” he said.

In his opening description, Butler also said that it would contribute to “purify” the schools. Butler walked that back in discussion with Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, who said that purity was a subjective definition.

“Is that what we should be aiming for?” she asked. “Someone else’s subjectivity?”

“No, ma’am,” said Butler.

HB 195, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, would require sexual education in the state to teach “exclusively and emphatically teach sexual risk avoidance content.” DuBose defined sexual risk avoidance as abstinence first.

The bill does not explicitly prohibit the teaching of contraception but places limitations on instruction, including that it is in line with sexual risk avoidance; does not “normalize, encourage, or promote” sexual behavior by youth and teens; does not say that contraception is 100% effective against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; and “dispels any false sense of security about ‘safe sex.’”

The bill also requires teachers to instruct students on the state’s abortion ban, domestic adoption and infant-surrendering laws. “Our sex ed program will continue to teach primarily abstinence, which is now called SRA, or sexual risk avoidance,” she said.

Christina Clark Okarmus, executive director the Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health, which was attacked by DuBose at the start of the hearing, said that Alabama has high rates of teen pregnancy. She said abstinence-only programs do not help reduce teen pregnancy or sexually-transmitted infection (STI) rates.

“I think most of us can agree that young people need messages of abstinence and prevention when it comes to sex,” she said. “This bill, HB 195, is an archaic and dangerous piece of legislation for our youth.”

Many medical and health associations endorse comprehensive sex education as the most effective, but the actual research on the impact of different sexual education programs tends to be sparse and ambiguous, according to a 2023 Hechinger Report article.

Beth Pruitt, a sexual-risk avoidance educator, said they took a holistic approach to education and included information about relationships and drug and alcohol use.

“We need to discuss that, how they are highly effective, but birth control provides zero protection against STDs and STIs,” she said. “Condoms have according to the CDC, an 18% typical use failure rate.”

The CDC says that external condoms often fail due to inconsistent or incorrect use. The CDC says the typical use failure rate is 13%.

Hannah Burkle, a professional health educator with Planned Parenthood, said that she thinks teen parents can be good parents but, in her experience, teen parents said they think that more sex education could have had an impact on them.

“We at Planned Parenthood also agree and believe that parents are the first and most important educators for their children, and from my studies as well as my work, I know that Alabama parents want comprehensive education for their kids,” she said.

Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, the chair of the committee, said the bills would return for a vote after spring break.

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Alabama

Star Alabama WR will sign with SEC rival out of transfer portal

Published

3 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Star Alabama WR will sign with SEC rival out of transfer portal

A bad day in the transfer portal for Alabama football got a little bit tougher on Sunday evening. Wide receiver Isaiah Horton, a starter for the Crimson Tide in 2025, announced that he’ll be transferring within the SEC.

Horton will land at Texas A&M, the same place as former UA offensive tackle Wilkin Formby. The wideout shared the news on his social media Sunday.

The Horton news follows a day in which Alabama missed out on a potential superstar replacement at receiver, when Cam Coleman announced his commitment to Texas. To make matters worse for the offense, running back Hollywood Smothers, who publicly committed to the Crimson Tide from NC State, flipped to Texas on Sunday as well.

Horton provided valuable size in Alabama’s receiver room. He caught 42 passes for 511 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025.

The 6-foot-4, 208-pound native of Nashville, Tenn. led the Crimson Tide in touchdown catches. He had a knack for getting open in the end zone in clutch situations, as seen most clearly in the Iron Bowl.

As Alabama struggled against an Auburn team playing with an interim coach at Jordan-Hare Stadium in November, Horton caught three touchdown passes. He made his final scoring grab on a crucial fourth down late in the fourth quarter.

With Horton gone, plus Germie Bernard running out of eligibility, Alabama has just one returning starter (Ryan Williams) at wide receiver from the 2025 season remaining. The other spots will likely be filled by the likes of Lotzeir Brooks, Rico Scott and Derek Meadows.

Alabama will be facing off against the Aggies this season, for the first time since 2023. The Crimson Tide will host Texas A&M on Oct. 24 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Undergraduate players are allowed to enter the transfer portal through Friday. Players who do can sign with a new team at any time, even after the entry window is closed.

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Nate Oats Rips Alabama Players for Being ‘Too Comfortable With Losing’

Published

16 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Nate Oats Rips Alabama Players for Being ‘Too Comfortable With Losing’

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 13 Alabama men’s basketball might have a bit of a problem.

The Crimson Tide was upset by Texas at home on Saturday night, and the 92-88 loss was riddled with negatives. Alabama came into this one with a road loss to undefeated Vanderbilt, and this should’ve been a game to shake it off.

But Alabama was down by double digits to Texas on numerous occasions throughout the contest. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said during the postgame press conference that defensive assistant Brian Adams “does a really good job putting good game plans together,” but “guys that don’t care enough to lock in and follow” those game plans.

“It starts with effort,” Oats said. “The want-to, competitive edge, guys just don’t want to lose, give you everything they got. The guys are apparently too comfortable with losing right now, because they’re not giving us everything they got on that side of the floor.

“So, I think it starts with having guys that just refuse to lose. From there, it goes to guys, like in the moment, having some personal pride in stopping their man. Too many blow-bys, too many isolation plays, just beat one-on-one, guy’s not locked down on the help side, a guy gets beat…I do think we’ve got some guys that care enough about winning on the defensive end, but you’ve also got to score the ball on offense, too.

“So we’re going to have to figure out the right lineups to play that care enough, compete enough, are tired of losing, got enough personal pride in their defense and they care enough to prepare. … Losing doesn’t bother them enough yet. I don’t know how many losses it’s going to take until it bothers them, but it bothers me. It bothers the coaching staff, and as soon as it starts bothering the players enough, I’m sure they’ll change.”

Another way to ensure winning is by converting at the free throw line. Alabama looked the part in the first half, as it hit 11 of its 12 attempts from the charity stripe. But in the second half, in part due to the defense, the Crimson Tide continued to fall behind, and it led to UA converting just eight of its 15 attempts in the latter 20 minutes.

“When you’re locked in, you’re locked in,” Oats said. “When you’re locked in on defense, all you care about is winning the game. When you’re locked into the defense and you go to the line, and you’re just focused on winning the game, you’ll step up and you’ll make your free throws.

“When you’re worried about a lot of stuff that’s a distraction, worried about stats and some other stuff, and you’re not locked in, that’s when you go to the line and miss. Especially when you’re a good shooter, guys that should be making free throws at a high level. And the pressure got them a little bit in the second half, we got down 13.

“I mean, we do a free-throw game. It took us four tries to get it the way I wanted it yesterday. Guys have got to care enough to get in the gym and work on their free throws. So, free throws are the only thing in the game of basketball that has no variation to it ever, except for a variation you put in your own mind. Well, get enough reps up, you train your mind and basically become a machine at the free-throw line. Obviously, we’re not putting enough reps up right now.”

Alabama freshman forward London Jemison said after the game that the team needs to be “more connected” during games, practices, film and even when focusing on nutrition.

Oats provided an outline for the defense to gel more, the free throws to fall through the basket and a stronger connection to be enforced. And it’s quite a simple solution.

“It looks like we need some leadership to step up,” Oats said. “Some guys that want to get everybody together, tired of losing, stuff’s got to change. It’s not a talent problem. It’s a focus, effort and competitive juice problem. So, if they’re not as connected, that falls on the leadership of the team.

“And we’ve told these guys, ‘We’re here to help you. This is your team, your season. I’ll be coaching for a long time after this. They get one opportunity with this group to put it together. That’s it.’ So, if they love their brothers and they want their teammates to perform well, they’re going to give a lot better effort on the floor than what they’re doing. Maybe they’re not as connected.

“To me, it seems like we don’t have any bad guys. Like, there’s nobody that everybody just doesn’t like. They seem to like each other, but they obviously don’t respect their teammates enough to give a winning effort out there. Some of the guys are really bought into winning, but not everybody. So we’ve got to get everybody bought into winning.”

Alabama (11-5, 1-2 SEC) aims for a resurgence against Mississippi State (10-6, 2-1 SEC) on the road on Tuesday night.

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Where to watch Texas vs. Alabama today: College basketball free stream

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Where to watch Texas vs. Alabama today: College basketball free stream

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The No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide host the Texas Longhorns Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The Crimson Tide have four losses this season, all have come against teams ranked inside the top 11.

Texas vs. Alabama will air on ESPN, and streams live on DIRECTV (free trial).

What: Men’s college basketball regular season

Who: Texas Longhorns vs. No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide

When: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live stream: DIRECTV (free trial), fuboTV (free trial)

Texas is 3-4 in its past seven games, and doesn’t have a win over any currently ranked teams. A road win over Alabama would help its cause in the national ranking and the SEC standings. Alabama hasn’t lost to an unranked team this season, and a second straight would hurt their hopes for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s a recent college basketball story via the Associated Press:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Tanner scored 23 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and No. 11 Vanderbilt remained undefeated by beating 13th-ranked Alabama 96-90 on Wednesday night.

The Commodores (15-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) extended their best start since winning 16 straight games to open the 2007-08 season. This is only the second time in the program’s 124-year history that Vanderbilt has won its first 15.

Vanderbilt hadn’t played a ranked opponent until this game, also the first here between two top-15 teams since Jan. 5, 1974. Then-No. 10 Vanderbilt beat the 14th-ranked Crimson Tide in that game on its way to splitting the SEC championship with Alabama.

Vanderbilt also beat Alabama for the first time at Memorial Gym since 2018, ending a five-game skid against the Tide.

Duke Miles had 19 points and five steals before fouling out, and four other Commodores finished with at least four fouls. Tyler Nickel scored 12 points while Devin McGlockton and AK Okereke, who also fouled out, each had 10.

Tanner, a sophomore guard, added seven assists and four steals. He was 12 of 15 at the free-throw line — all in the second half.

Alabama (11-4, 1-1) had its four-game winning streak snapped in a game featuring 63 combined fouls, with two technicals on the Crimson Tide.

Amari Allen led Alabama with a season-high 25 points. Leading scorer Labaron Philon Jr. added 18 but checked out with 16:06 to go and never returned. Aden Holloway had 22 points and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored 13.

Fouls called left and right turned the first 10 minutes of the second half into ugly ball, and Alabama never led by more than four. Allen hit two free throws that pulled the Tide to 59-58 with 12:14 left.

Vanderbilt went on a 16-4 spurt that included a technical foul on Alabama coach Nate Oats with 8:39 to go. Tanner hit both free throws off the technical, then Mike James knocked down a 3-pointer for a 74-63 lead. The Tide made it interesting but got no closer than 94-90.

Up next

Alabama hosts Texas on Saturday.

Vanderbilt hosts LSU on Saturday.

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