Gay Pride.JPG

Supporters of diversity of all kinds, including for people who are gay, leave the Huntsville Depot Sunday, June 23, 2013, during the Rocket City Pride event. Marriage-equality rights advocates will gather today, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, 6 p.m., in Big Spring Park for an informal celebration of today's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the ban on federal benefits for legally married same-sex couples. (Bob Gathany / BGathany@al.com)

Alabama officials are reconsidering state requirements saying public school sex education should emphasize that gay sex is illegal after the state's consensual anal and oral sex ban was ruled unconstitutional last month.

Passed in 1992, the sex education law provides the foundation for the Alabama Department of Education's health curriculum, one that critics allege is destructive to gay students. It states that homosexuality is "not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state."

An Alabama appeals court overturned the state's sodomy ban in June. Aimed at criminalizing homosexual sex, the law was used to convict a Dallas County man for sexual misconduct, although the jury found the homosexual encounter was consensual.

Due to the court's ruling, Michael Sibley, an Alabama Department of Education spokesman, told AL.com this week that the language in the state requirement is "is legally wrong and no longer operative," and that "'homosexual conduct' is not illegal in Alabama."



"All that being said, the statement that 'homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public' is not a legal conclusion, but rather a policy statement," Sibley wrote in an email, adding that it hadn't been affected by the appellate court's decision.

Monica Rodriguez, president of New York-based Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, said the law discriminates against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. She urged lawmakers to amend it.

"It's one of those forms of institutional oppression that's bigger than one line in the sex policy," said Rodriguez, whose group advocates for comprehensive sexual education reform. "It can be a pervasive attitude that influences school climate. It not only impacts health, but it impacts their academic achievement.



Susan Watson, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, called the state's sodomy ban a "relic from the past," and "unconstitutional and unenforceable." She said she was unaware of any legal challenges to the reference to the sodomy ban in the sexual education requirements.



"If there are school districts promoting this teaching or if there is someone who is adversely affected — student or teacher — we want to know about it and would like to speak with them," Watson said.

What's taught in Alabama?

AL.com asked several school districts how they approached sex education. Many said they adhered to state's required health curriculum, which focuses on abstinence.

Jefferson County Schools: "Homosexuality is not a topic addressed in our curriculum," said Shannon Stanley, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning. "We follow the abstinence-based approach as set forth by the State Department of Education and do not address sexual conduct of any nature."

Fairfield city schools: Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin Jr. said "we do not promote or teach intolerance as part of our curriculum." The school system does not teach the use of condoms.

Hoover schools: Assistant superintendent Ron Dodson said he doesn't believe that any classes specifically address the issue of whether homosexuality is acceptable or homosexual conduct is a crime.

"I don't think that that is something that we have explicitly taught," he said. "Any reasonable person is not going to go there" unless there's a specific reason to address it with an individual student or group of students, Dodson said.

He said Hoover schools would wait for guidance from the state Department of Education before making any changes to sex education curriculum.

Madison County schools: Spokeswoman Geraldine Tibbs said follows the Alabama Department of Education's course of study for health and science. "No specific courses are taught related to sex education," she said.

Baldwin County Public Schools:

Science supervisor

She couldn't say whether students are taught that homosexual conduct is illegal.

"This is not for the childrens' eyes, this is for the teachers' eyes," Duck said referring to the state statute. "This is not something the kids get."

AL.com reporters Evan Belanger, Jon Anderson, Crystal Bonvillian and Jesse Chambers contributed to this report.

(Updated at 12:30 p.m. July 17 to clarify state's response to sex education requirements.)