Alabama stops funding DEI programs at state institutions, denies men access to women's bathrooms on college campuses



Alabama has joined several other states in turning the tide of leftist activism by starving diversity, equity, and inclusion programs of funding at all public institutions and requiring males and females to use bathrooms on college campuses that correspond with their sex.

SB129 takes aim at eight "divisive concepts" related to race, religion, sex, ethnicity, and national origin. All too often, the bill claims, programs that focus on such concepts foster an unwarranted "sense of guilt, complicity, or a need to apologize."

Apparently to counteract some of the social and emotional consequences of these "divisive concepts," SB129 prevents the state from providing funds for DEI programs or offices at state agencies and public schools. It also bans mandatory DEI trainings, compelling individuals to share a "personal point of view on any divisive concept outside of an academic setting" and limiting enrollment to a class or training based on race. The law even applies to all firms that contract with the state, except those providing construction services.

"My administration has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses – or wherever else for that matter – to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe," Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said in a statement.

Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels took the opposite view, calling the law "regressive" and claiming that it "undermines the strides we’ve made in cultivating an inclusive society in Alabama."

Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas have passed similar measures to eradicate DEI as well.

In addition to effectively killing DEI in Alabama, SB129 helps protect women and girls on college campuses by placing an important restriction on bathroom use there. "Each public institution of higher education shall ensure that every multiple occupancy restroom be designated for use by individuals based on their biological sex," the bill reads. Thus, men who claim to be women will no longer be able to enter a restroom on campus reserved for females.

Violations of the new bathroom or DEI regulations will result in "certain penalties," the bill says. The bill lists professional disciplinary action and termination of employment as possible "penalties" but did not necessarily preclude others.

Both chambers of the state legislature voted to approve the measure this week before Gov. Ivey signed it into law on Wednesday. The law will go into effect on October 1.

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Florida city changes all single-occupancy and family bathrooms to 'all-gender' so that 'trans individuals feel safe'



The city of St. Petersburg, Florida, decided to convert all of its public bathrooms that are single-person use or for families to "all-gender" bathrooms so that transgender people "feel safe."

The city also seemingly wished to keep a high score on a progressive municipality equality index.

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch signed an executive policy on September 1, 2023 to change all single-occupancy and family restrooms to "all-gender," SCNR reported. Bathrooms with multiple stalls will still remain gendered.

The policy, which has a six-month grace period, effects large venues like Al Lang Stadium, which seats 7,500, and Tropicana Field, which seats over 25,000 and is home to Major League Baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays.

The change is reportedly a reaction to a state law that went into effect on July 1, 2023, which made it illegal for a person to enter (and not leave) a bathroom designated for the opposite sex.

"We’re eliminating gender identity restrictions and making them all gender so trans individuals feel safe using individual facilities," St. Petersburg's LGBTQ+ liaison, Jim Nixon, told the Tampa Bay Times.

"We just felt like this was a good opportunity to make that change since we had made it here in City Hall," Nixon continued. "It was just an opportunity that we had seen this becoming a bigger issue."

The city also seemed to be operating in response to the Human Rights Campaign's annual Municipal Equality Index. The index grades cities on "how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there."

The Human Rights Campaign is a progressive activist group focused on the LGBT agenda and often backs pro-child sex-change projects.

St. Petersburg reportedly received a perfect score for the tenth straight year on the index. The city is considered a success story by the activist group, with St. Petersburg enacting "intentional inclusivity" at the heart of the city.

"It [lets our] transgender siblings ... know there are facilities available that they’re safer to use," the city's sexual orientation official went on. Nixon then described state legislation as attacks and reiterated that the city's decision was one of safety.

"With everything that’s happening and the attacks on the LGBTQ+ community ... from the state, we’re always looking at opportunities to make St. Pete a safe city for all of our residents."

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New Hampshire school bans urinals amid 'gender identity' bathroom kerfuffle; students stage walkout



New Hampshire high school students staged a walkout protesting an unusual compromise that avoided a requirement for students to use bathrooms corresponding with biological sex, WMUR reported Friday.

The compromise bars students from using urinals and communal spaces in locker rooms, with the eventual plan to include enclosing all bathroom and locker room stalls.

"As a female, I don't think it's safe to have males in our bathroom," Milford High School student Lena Silva told WMUR.

"This is creating a complex system of inequality for our LGBTQ+ students," student Autumn Diveley told the station. "Nobody asked for this," Diveley also said.

During Friday's protest, students carried signs that said "we want urinals" and "where is our vote?"

"We're trying to make it work for everyone," Milford School Board Chairman Judi Zaino said, according to the Nashua Telegraph.

Zaino was commenting on the "sometimes tearful" testimony at a well-attended Milford School Board meeting that preceded the student walkout.

"We're experimenting. We don't know if this will work," Zaino continued.

Monday night's school board meeting was attended by students, parents, legislators, teachers, and local residents, the Telegraph reported.

At issue was the still-in-place district policy permitting students to use the bathroom that "corresponds to their gender identity consistently asserted at school," ABC News reported.

A proposed policy, which did not go into effect, would have required students to use the bathroom that corresponded with his or her biological sex.

In a measure meant as a compromise, the school board voted Monday to eliminate urinals and enclose bathroom and locker room stalls, the Telegraph reported. The measure also limits the number of students in a bathroom to the number of stalls.

Participants speaking at the meeting expressed a variety of opinions on the proposed policies.

While some speakers decried the proposed measures as discriminatory and even a "suicide risk," others supported the measures as a means for protecting young women and girls' right to privacy and security while using the restroom or changing clothes.

School board member Nathaniel Wheeler proposed the original measure to require students to use bathrooms corresponding to biological sex, the Telegraph further reported. He reportedly voted against the compromise measure based on its estimated cost of $30,000.

School board member Noah Boudreault proposed the compromise involving removing urinals, enclosing stalls, and banning use of communal changing areas in locker rooms.

"“I want to be clear, it was a compromise to both sides of this issue,” Milford School Board member Noah Boudreault said, according to ABC's reporting.

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Ohio transsexual charged with indecent exposure after allegedly brandishing his manhood in women's locker room with girls present



An Ohio man masquerading as a woman in a YMCA women's locker room has been charged with indecent exposure, signaling a possible prioritization of common sense over ideology.

WHIO reported that complaints from real women at the YMCA center in Xenia began to pile up, accusing 31-year-old Darren Glines of various improprieties, but virtually all on the same theme.

The complaints, which go back to 2021, were filed by people who "reported seeing a naked male in the female's locker room," with three little girls present in one instance.

Xenia City Council President William Urschel echoed one of the complaints in a recent Green County Tea Party meeting that one woman who complained "went to the front desk and said, 'Hey, I don't know if you know what's going on, but there's a naked man in there.'"

Urschel suggested that the woman had been told in response, "'No, this is actually a woman and ... you shouldn't be disturbed by this.'"

A Greene County mother told WLWT that she was "upset" and "shaken" after Glines, of Fairborn, allegedly exposed himself to her and her 13-year-old and 16-year-old daughters.

Despite brandishing at least one piece of evidence to the contrary, Glines allegedly told the concerned mother he was in fact a woman.

The mother reportedly found no help from the director of the YMCA, who indicated Glines and men like him couldn't be stopped from entering women's spaces.

The YMCA of Greater Dayton doubled down in support for male members in women's locker rooms, writing in a recent statement, "Under no circumstance will we investigate an individual’s birth identity and then assign individuals to locker rooms. That would be counter to the law, counter to respect for all people and it is not who or what we are as an organization."

The organization told WLWT that the "Greater Dayton YMCA adheres to Ohio and Federal laws and antidiscrimination laws which allow all members access to its facilities and programs, regardless of religion, national origin, race, color, sex, age, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation."

Local resident and real woman Kim Coates told WHIO, "I'm not judging nobody, that's not my business, but that's a family place. ... It doesn't make me feel comfortable or at a safe place."

Another real woman told the local news outfit, "Whatever gender you want to be, that's fine, that's your own personal taste or whatever. But you don't have to involve our young people."

The Journal-News reported that Glines, who calls himself Rachel, was charged in Xenia Municipal Court with three counts of public indecency for exposing himself in September, November, and on a third occasion with kids present, all fourth-degree misdemeanor charges.

Urschel, affiliated with the Republican Party, indicated that if the city is successful in prosecuting Glines, it may bring legal action against the YMCA for aiding and abetting the alleged crimes.

The city council president suggested that the "pendulum has swung to where gender identity rights have trumped laws of privacy and public indecency," suggesting that it's high time Americans go about resolving the underlying confusion.

Democrats lashed out at Urschel after he appeared to suggest that women and girls shouldn't be subjected to indecencies to sate the ideological ambitions of social constructivists.

Kim McCarthy, chair of the Greene County Democratic Party, called Urschel's stance "extremely disappointing," suggesting that he should turn his focus elsewhere.

Looking elsewhere might force one to realize that this is not an isolated incident.

TheBlaze reported last month that a California girl was emotionally scarred after a man entered the women's locker room while she was showering at the YMCA in Santee, California.

Rebecca Phillips, 17, told the Santee City Council that after the incident, she second-guessed ever bringing her 5-year-old sister back to the gym to enjoy the water slides, adding, "This is the YMCA where hundreds of children spend their summer afternoons in child-care camps. This is the YMCA where my little sister took gymnastics lessons. The locker room was supposed to be her safe haven to gossip with her friends and shower and change."

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Republicans blast Democrats who are calling for single occupancy bathrooms at the Capitol: 'House Democrats have ... pivoted to their favorite topic—themselves'



Democratic Reps. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Hakeem Jeffries of New York are advocating for single occupancy bathrooms on Capitol Hill in order to cater to transgender and nonbinary individuals, as well as and disabled people and others.

They described the matter an "important issue" in a letter to Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, chair of the Committee on House Administration.

"We write today to urge the Committee to support efforts to install single occupancy restrooms in the House of Representatives and the Capitol," the Democratic duo declared. "Implementing single-use restrooms will make a visible difference in the lives of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, as well as other marginalized communities, including people with disabilities, older adults, and parents of small children. As such, we ask for further examination of this issue and for your facilitation in installing additional restroom facilities to better accommodate those who work or seek to work in the House of Representatives."

"The House Appropriations Committee has taken steps to address this issue, including report language accompanying the FY21 appropriations bill that directed the Architect of the Capitol to detail the availability of single-stall restrooms in House office buildings, and subsequent report language accompanying the FY22 appropriations bill that directed the Architect to ensure that future construction and remodeling projects incorporate single-stall restrooms. Currently, there is only one single-use restroom located in the Longworth basement. For individuals working in the Cannon and Rayburn office buildings, they must leave their buildings and, in some cases, walk outside to find a safe and comfortable restroom to use," the lawmakers said in the letter.

Multiple Republican lawmakers slammed their Democratic colleagues for focusing on the bathroom issue while Americans endure real-world problems such as roaring inflation and sky-high gas prices.

"All across the country, Americans are suffering from record inflation, shortages, crime, the border crisis and now a tanking stock market," GOP Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana told Fox News Digital. "House Democrats have no solutions, so they’ve pivoted to their favorite topic—themselves."

"While Americans are suffering under record inflation and skyrocketing gas prices, House Democrats are focused on gender-neutral bathrooms in their office buildings," Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told the outlet. "Give me a break. This is political theater, a true parody of leadership."

GOP Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois described the bathroom advocacy as "just the latest example of House Democrats’ misplaced priorities."

"With soaring gas prices, baby formula shortages, rising crime, and a border crisis, this is what they choose to focus on," he noted, according to Fox News. "The American People are tired of it, as Democrats will learn the hard way come November."

\u201cGender-neutral restrooms ensure that every person - no matter their gender identity - feels safe in our nation's Capitol. I am proud to lead this effort and to partner with @RepJeffries to ensure that the People's House is a welcoming space for all.\u201d
— Katherine Clark (@Katherine Clark) 1655312210

Oklahoma Republicans Fight Back After Rogue School Board Refuses To Enforce Bathroom Use By Sex

It's an issue that has concerned parents and put the nearly 50,000-person college town of Stillwater at the center of the culture war.

California will require public schools to provide free menstrual products in bathrooms, including at least one men's restroom



California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation that will require California public schools serving students in grades 6-12 to stock free menstrual products in women's bathrooms, all-gender bathrooms, and at least one men's bathroom.

"On or before the start of the 2022–23 school year, a public school, including a school operated by a school district, county office of education, or charter school, maintaining any combination of classes from grades 6 to 12, inclusive, shall stock the school's restrooms at all times with an adequate supply of menstrual products, available and accessible, free of cost, in all women's restrooms and all-gender restrooms, and in at least one men's restroom," the legislation states.

The Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021 will also require the California State University and each community college district to offer free menstrual products in at least one location on every campus.

The legislation describes having access to such products as a fundamental "human right."

"California recognizes that access to menstrual products is a basic human right and is vital for ensuring the health, dignity, and full participation of all Californians in public life," the legislation declares.

"California has an interest in promoting gender equity, not only for women and girls, but also for transgender men, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people who may also menstruate and experience inequities resulting from lack of access to menstrual products," the legislation also states.

"It is the intent of the Legislature that this act provide for the health, dignity, and safety of menstruating students at every socioeconomic level, normalize menstruation among all genders, and foster gender competency in California schools, colleges, and universities," the bill reads.

Currently in California, public schools serving students in grades 6-12 from low-income families must supply free feminine hygiene products in at least half of bathrooms.