Alabama
Alabama House committee passes bill putting definitions of sex into law – Alabama Reflector
The Alabama House Judiciary Committee Wednesday approved a bill creating legal definitions of men and women based on the presence or potential for the person to possess certain reproductive cells.
HB 111, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, says that a man is a person with “a reproductive system that at some point produces sperm” while a woman is a person with “a reproductive system that at some point produces ova.”
The proposal also allows state and local agencies to create separate spaces assigned to each gender and mandates them to collect information that identifies people based on their gender at birth.
“It is a definition bill for our courts to have guidance when interpreting laws that already exist in Alabama,” DuBose said. “Words have meaning, and my intent is to make sure we have uniform definitions, and our courts have clarity.”
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SB 92, a similar bill sponsored by Sen. April Weaver, R-Brierfield, was approved in a Senate committee earlier this month.
More than 100 people showed up to a public hearing on the legislation last week. The bill, coming after years of legislative attacks on transgender youth by the Alabama Legislature, has troubled groups who advocate for people in the LGBTQ+ community. DuBose sponsored a law last year banning transgender youth from playing college sports.
“For a number of reasons, HB 111 and SB 92, the ‘What is a Woman Act’ does not make sense to implement because it defines the social categories of gender as reproductive systems,” said Allison Montgomery, a member of the Alabama Transgender Rights Action Coalition, in an interview Tuesday. “Even if people transition, they are forever legally classified as whatever they were assigned at birth.”
The implications could be profound for people who are incarcerated, allowing transgender people to be placed into facilities with those who are the opposite gender.
“We are seeing calls to law enforcement because someone suspects someone else in the bathroom of being transgendered,” Montgomery said. “Bills like this are dangerous for everybody because they create a culture of fear.”
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, expressed reservations about the bill.
“Oftentimes, we create definitions, and we create laws that then create perceptions, and there are people who pursue those perceptions,” he said.
DuBose said the only impact of her bill would be a law that was already passed in education that required K-12 students use the bathrooms according to their sex, “and this would define sex for those purposes,” she said.
England also referred to a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case called Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the justices ruled 6-3 vote that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because of sexuality or gender identity.
“If you create a definition that people have to fit into in state law that doesn’t require certain accommodations to be made based on those definitions, but then you have a Supreme Court case that does require certain accommodations to be made, there may be some conflict there,” England said.
DuBose said she is not aware of the case but does not have an issue with the decision made by the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We are at the beginning stages of this legislation,” England said. “I am certainly willing to come and talk to you further about those because there may be a way that we can draw up legislation and take some of the language from the recent Supreme Court decision, and also the definitions that are already in state law, and maybe prevent litigation in the future.”
Very cold temperatures greeted Alabamians on Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service said temperatures overnight bottomed out in the low 20s in parts of the state and even were at the freezing mark in south Alabama.
Here were the lowest temperatures between midnight and 6 a.m. Sunday from around Alabama from the National Weather Service:
* Alexander City: 30 degrees
* Anniston: 23 degrees
* Auburn: 28 degrees
* Birmingham: 24 degrees
* Decatur: 25 degrees
* Demopolis: 25 degrees
* Dothan: 30 degrees
* Evergreen: 28 degrees
* Eufaula: 28 degrees
* Gadsden: 21 degrees
* Haleyville: 22 degrees
* Huntsville: 26 degrees
* Mobile: 31 degrees
* Montgomery: 25 degrees
* Muscle Shoals: 24 degrees
* Ozark: 29 degrees
* Prattville: 25 degrees
* Sylacauga: 24 degrees
* Talladega: 22 degrees
* Troy: 26 degrees
* Tuscaloosa: 25 degrees
Temperatures today will be a few degrees higher than on Saturday. Highs will range from the low to mid-40s in south Alabama to the 50s in central Alabama, to the mid-50s in south Alabama (today’s forecast is at the top of this post).
Tonight will be chilly again, but not as cold as last night. Here are the forecast low temperatures from Sunday night into Monday morning:
Tonight’s low temperatures won’t be quite as cold as last night.NWS
Gradual warming is expected to continue this week, with the next chances for rain arriving on Wednesday, Christmas Day. The weather service isn’t expecting a lot of rain, and no severe weather is anticipated.
High temperatures on Christmas Day will be warmer, with 60s expected across a wide area and possibly some 70s near the coast. Here are the expected Christmas Day temperatures:
It will be warmer across much of Alabama on Christmas Day. Above is the forecast for Wednesday.NWS
The warming trend looks to hold past Christmas. Here is the six- to 10-day temperature outlook, and it shows a high probability of above-average temperatures for Alabama through the end of December:
Alabama has a high probability of experiencing above-average temperatures from Dec. 27- Dec. 31.Climate Prediction Center
Alabama
Seth McLaughlin Brings Alabama's Tennessee Victory Cigar Tradition to the Ohio State Sideline
Seth McLaughlin wasn’t able to play against Tennessee on Saturday night.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t celebrate his team’s dominating 42-17 win the way he used to when he suited up for the Alabama Crimson Tide as an undergraduate student.
The cigar he had with him was not random or a prop. It was part of a tradition he learned in Tuscaloosa.
— Chase Brown (@chaseabrown__) December 22, 2024
As the legend has it, in 1961 one of Bear Bryant’s trainers lit up a stogie following a Tide win which had ended a five-game slide to the Volunteers. This created a tradition maintained over the next two decades – which eventually spread to the opposite sideline.
The Volunteers have been participating in the victory cigar tradition since the early 1980s. It has spread from the sideline into the stands and tailgates. Earlier this season, the Volunteers beat the Crimson Tide in Knoxville, creating a plume of smoke above Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee students light up cigars after an SEC conference game between Tennessee and Alabama in Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. © Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
So it was appropriate that McLaughlin, now with the Buckeyes following his Rimington Award-winning season in Columbus found a way to pay homage to his first alma mater while celebrating with his second one.
Former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin is smoking a cigar on the Ohio State sideline as time expires and the Buckeyes beat Tennessee.
— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) December 22, 2024
Ohio State plays Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Alabama
Colorado LB Nikhai Hill-Green to transfer to Alabama football. What it means for Crimson Tide
An all-conference linebacker is joining Alabama football for the 2025 season.
Nikhai Hill-Green, a former Michigan and Charlotte linebacker who was second-team All-Big 12 at Colorado in 2024, told On3 he would transfer to the Crimson Tide for his final season of eligibility.
Hill-Green is the seventh player to join Alabama ahead of 2025 along with Cal long snapper David Bird, Colorado School of Mines punter Blake Doud, Florida defensive lineman Kelby Collins, Utah cornerback Cameron Calhoun, Texas A&M offensive lineman Kam Dewberry and Miami wide receiver Isaiah Horton.
Hill-Green is the third transfer commitment Saturday along with Horton and Dewberry.
What Alabama football gets in Colorado LB Nikhai Hill-Green
Hill-Green is coming off his most productive collegiate season yet.
The former four-star linebacker out of Baltimore was the Buffaloes’ second-leading tackler with 82, adding 11.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, four pass deflections and two interceptions.
Hill-Green had a 13-tackle performance against Kansas State. He also had back-to-back games against Texas Tech and Utah where he had an interception.
Hill-Green improved upon his productive 2023 season at Charlotte where he had 73 tackles, nine tackles-for-loss, two sacks and three pass deflections.
Hill-Green originally signed with Michigan in the 2020 class and played two seasons with the Wolverines.
Alabama football depth chart: Where does Nikhai Hill-Green fit?
Alabama’s linebacker room is about to get a lot younger.
The Crimson Tide added four linebackers in the 2025 recruiting class: Ohio four-star Justin Hill, Georgia four-star Darrell Johnson, Georgia four-star Luke Metz and California four-star Abduall Sanders Jr.
It’s a room currently in a bit of a transition period, one that will not have Que Robinson and Justin Jefferson in 2025 while Jihaad Campbell and Deontae Lawson are both NFL draft eligible.
Depending on the status of Campbell and Lawson, Alabama could be looking to fill two linebacker spots next to Wolf Qua Russaw. And other than the four freshmen, Alabama’s room does not have many options with players expected to return such as Justin Okoronkwo, Jeremiah Alexander and Cayden Jones.
Hill-Green is a plug-and-play starter, likely at the Mike, one that gives Alabama a chance to develop younger members of the room instead of throwing them into the fire as freshmen.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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