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Alabama LGBTQ advocates react to Trump’s inaugural comments on gender: ‘Benefits no one’

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Alabama LGBTQ advocates react to Trump’s inaugural comments on gender: ‘Benefits no one’


Gay and transgender rights advocates in Alabama and beyond are gearing up for more attacks on LGBTQ rights after newly sworn-in President Donald Trump vowed that under U.S. policy there are “only two genders.”

“We take the remark to be a denial of all trans folks’ lived experiences, especially within the context of expected executive actions,” the Alabama Transgender Rights Action Coalition, said in an email to AL.com. “Science and medicine affirm the existence of a whole spectrum of gender that includes cisgender and transgender people alike. The administration’s stance on this benefits no one, and contradicts widely accepted medical best practice.”

Trump is expected to sign an executive action restricting the government’s definition of gender and sex.

“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” Trump said Monday during his inaugural address, to loud applause.

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U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., praised Trump’s comments.

“Thank you, Mr. President, for recognizing that there are 2 genders: male and female,” Tuberville said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Now, we need to pass my bill to get men OUT of women’s sports.”

Tuberville reintroduced the bill that would bar transgender athletes from women’s sports earlier this week with numerous co-sponsors, including Alabama’s junior Republican, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt.

The Alabama coalition for transgender rights condemned Tuberville’s remarks.

“Transgender people (including nonbinary folks) exist in Alabama, and many are born here — and we just want to be free to participate in society like everyone else,” the advocacy group said in an email to AL.com. “In the coming years, some politicians will continue to proclaim falsehoods in an effort to distract from issues that they can’t solve without upsetting the interests that fund them. Alabama’s working-class people aren’t helped by the introduction of anti-trans policy, by a rejection of science, or by the embrace of anti-intellectualism.”

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An incoming White House official told reporters that Trump will sign an executive action on Monday dictating that the policy of the U.S. is that there are two biologically distinct sexes: male and female, according to NPR.

The sexes are “not changeable,” according to the official, who spoke on background to reporters. The change in definition would apply to documents like passports, visas, and employee records.

Taxpayer funds would not be allowed to be used for “transition services,” according to the report from NPR.

But transgender rights advocates urged caution.

“Today, the Trump Administration is expected to release a barrage of executive actions taking aim at the LGBTQ+ community instead of uniting our country and prioritizing the pressing issues the American people are facing,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in an email to AL.com. “But make no mistake: these actions will not take effect immediately.”

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Robinson said the actions “serve no purpose” other than hurting LGBTQ+ families and communities.

She said the Trump administration “is trying to divide our communities in the hope that we forget what makes us strong.”

“But we refuse to back down or be intimidated.”

Trump is expected to sign numerous executive actions Monday, primarily related to immigration.



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Alabama

New Alabama football coach Adrian Klemm faces massive task | Goodbread

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New Alabama football coach Adrian Klemm faces massive task | Goodbread


Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.

Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.

That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.

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The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.

If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.

UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.

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But it also smacked of desperation.

In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.

It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.

Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.

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Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.

With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.

And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

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Mother who reported AL toddler missing now faces murder charge

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Mother who reported AL toddler missing now faces murder charge


The mother of an Enterprise toddler, reported missing Feb. 16, has been charged with capital murder, said Police Chief Michael Moore.

Adrienne Reid, mother of Genesis Nova Reid, reported her daughter as missing to authorities and said the two-year-old was not in the home and the door was open. On March 9, she was charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and abuse of a corpse, Moore said. March 9 would have been Genesis’ birthday, he said. Adrienne Reid had previously been charged with filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance.

She is being held without bond, Moore said. Adrienne Reid could not be reached for comment and court records do not show if she has an attorney.

The case shocked Enterprise and southeast Alabama. Hundreds of volunteers searched for her, and people were asked to wear pink to honor her.

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Early on in the investigation neighbors told law enforcement that they hadn’t seen the child for several weeks.

Moore said evidence points to the capital murder charge even though Genesis’ body has not been found. The last time she was seen was Christmas night while visiting family in Dothan, Moore said. Video footage at the apartment complex where they lived showed Adrienne Reid about 11:30 p.m. Christmas night pulling a rolling duffle bag to a dumpster at the complex, and throwing the duffle bag inside, he said.

Coffee County Sheriff Scott Byrd said his office began the process of planning to search the landfill early in the investigation. The landfill covers 100 acres. He said the area where the contents of the dumpster that allegedly contained Genesis’ body was likely dumped has been narrowed down to an area covering a few hundred feet.

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Active searches will begin soon, he said. District Attorney James Tarbox said the state will be seeking the death penalty.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.



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46-year-old woman charged with murder of 27-year-old woman in Brewton

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46-year-old woman charged with murder of 27-year-old woman in Brewton


BREWTON, Ala. — A 46-year-old woman is charged with the murder of a 27-year-old woman in Brewton, Alabama.

Deputies arrested Renotta Seltzer on Friday. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail in Alabama around 4:15 p.m. She’s being held without bond.

The shooting happened Friday on McGougin Road.

The victim is 27-year-old Anna Brown.

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Sheriff Heath Jackson tells WEAR News that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The sheriff’s office is expected to release more details on Monday.

Stick with WEAR News on-air and online for more updates on this story.



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