Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed two gender-related bills April 8 aimed at protecting youths. The first requires students in public schools to use bathrooms or changing rooms that correspond with the gender shown on their birth certificates, and additionally bans classroom discussion on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-5. The second bars medical professionals from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to anyone under 19, and also prohibits doctors from performing gender transition surgeries on minors.

If a medical practitioner were to disregard the second law, he or she would be guilty of a Class C felony and face up to 10 years in prison.

Ivey, a Republican, said that she signed both bills into law to protect the children of Alabama. 

“The first bill makes clear—boys will only use the boys’ bathroom and ladies will only use the ladies’ bathroom. That’s Alabama common sense,” she tweeted. “The second bill says that here in Alabama, we’re going to go by how God made us: If the Good Lord made you a boy, you’re a boy, and if He made you a girl, you’re a girl. It’s simple.

“Enough of this woke radical nonsense that preys on our kids,” Ivey added. “We’re going to focus on protecting our kids and keeping our schools focused on being a place where students learn the fundamentals.”

Franklin Graham applauded the governor’s actions, saying, “Alabama is making sense!” He went on to encourage prayer for Ivey and the Alabama legislators “who are trying to do the right thing.”

At a press briefing April 7, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki criticized Alabama’s Republican lawmakers for passing legislation that she claimed would “target trans youth with tactics that threatens to put pediatricians in prison if they provide medically necessary, lifesaving healthcare for the kids they serve.”

Yet the American College of Pediatricians says “there is not a single long-term study to demonstrate the safety or efficacy of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for transgender-believing youth.”

Both laws are scheduled to take effect in the coming months but are already facing lawsuits from several left-wing organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

 
Above: Alabama Governor Kay Ivey speaks at a press conference announcing Dannelly Field’s selection as an F-35A Base at Dannelly Field in Montgomery, Alabama, on Dec. 21, 2017.

Photo: Army Sgt. William Frye/AB Forces News Collection/Alamy