Alabama Considers Gay Gag Law 
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: December 1, 2004 5:02 pm ET

(Montgomery, Alabama) An Alabama state lawmaker is calling for legislation to ban gay speech from any institution which receives state money.

Representative Gerald Allen, a Republican, is preparing a bill that would bar any representation of homosexuality in schools, libraries, and state funded universities.

"We have a culture that's in deep trouble," Allen said.

If his bill became law, public school textbooks could not present views on homosexuality, college theater groups would not be able to perform plays like the Tennessee Williams classic "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" or The Laramie Project, and public school libraries could not display books that include lesbianism like Alice Walker's "The Color Purple."

Allen said he hopes to have the bill ready for the 2005 session of the legislature but concedes that he still has to work out  the method for weeding out objectionable material and programs.

Representative Alvin Holmes, a Democrat, called Allen's measure was an unconstitutional form of censorship aimed at enhancing Allen's standing with the right-wing conservatives.

Allen's proposal comes only days after a South Carolina legislator called for ending that state's funding for public television after SCETV ran a documentary on gays in the South. (story)

"I thought it was just social, leftist propaganda that they had no business airing," said state Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston. "They were actively promoting homosexuality as an OK thing to do."