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Republican lawmakers believe it is a “woke liberal” political agenda for the Alabama Department of Archives and History to host an event that educates others about history.
The event occurred last Thursday in Montgomery. Dr. Maigen Sullivan, co-founder of the Invisible Histories Project, held a lecture about LGBTQ+ history in Alabama.
Prior to the event, a right-wing website released a story quoting Alabama House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, and state Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville. Both of the politicians denounced the event as promoting a liberal political agenda.
“The fact that state money, buildings and resources are being used to promote a liberal political LGBTQ agenda flies in the face of our state’s values,” Stadthagen said. “If this is what they are doing with the taxpayer money that is sent to them, perhaps we should re-reevaluate their [ADAH’s] allocation in the next budget.”
Kiel said he doesn’t support using taxpayer dollars to fund something the vast majority of the state does not want.
“The woke liberal agenda is invading our culture every day,” Kiel said.
Sullivan said the event was funded by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance, not taxpayer money.
“I really just went over things that are quite black and white,” she said. “It’s just a record of history, and so I find it mind-boggling that anyone would interpret facts as a political agenda.”
The Human Rights Campaign located in Alabama sent a statement to AL.com on Thursday
“Alabama has a long history of attempting to erase the histories of marginalized individuals, so the latest statements by certain lawmakers is no surprise but equally concerning. As the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, we stand firmly with the ADAH in their commitment to preserve the history of ALL Alabamians. We’ve already lost countless historical accounts and stories through past attempts to erase history. Events like these are what preserving history truly looks like.”
