MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Senate voted Wednesday to put a politically appointed board in control of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, a change proposed after some lawmakers were upset about the department hosting a lecture on LGBTQ+ history.
State senators also approved legislation that would allow local government officials to dismiss library board members they appointed if they become displeased with their performance. Both bills now move to the Alabama House of Representatives.
The Archives’ monthly lunchtime lecture series last year included a June presentation titled “Invisible No More: Alabama’s LGBTQ+ History.” The lecture discussed topics ranging from the state’s first Pride march to the contributions of gay Alabamians.
Sen. Chris Elliott, the sponsor of the bills approved Wednesday, said a dozen lawmakers called the Archives urging them to cancel the lecture but the department went forward with it.
One of the first things the Nazis did when they gained power was destroy the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft and burn their library of books. Some of the early research done there included gay, transgender, and intersex topics. The Nazis then started passing laws to ban homosexuality, rounding up gay men then place them in death camps.
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
It bears reminding that it wasn’t a small culture shift either, the first homosexual movement started in Berlin in the 20s and 30s.
Oh they’re not “doomed” to repeat it; they’re enthusiastically xeroxing it.