State Sen. Elliott: Archives shouldn't be 'pushing this woke ideology' in Alabama

State Sen. Chris Elliott believes elected officials should have more of a say over the actions of the Alabama Department of History and Archives (ADAH).

In response to a controversial LGBTQ event held by the ADAH this year, Elliot (R-Josephine) has pre-filed a bill that will change the process of appointing members to the department’s board.

Tuesday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” the senator explained why the power of the ADAH needs to be checked.

“It’s a pretty straightforward bill and it’s not very complicated and it’s one of those that you would think is already occurring,” Elliot said, “and that is under the bill that’s proposed, the folks that serve on the board of the Archives and History Department, that hire the executive director and provide general oversight, be appointed by elected officials in the state of Alabama as opposed to appointing and reappointing themselves, which is what happens right now.”

Elliott said the current process of appointing members has led to the department participating in things that are not in line with the will of most Alabamians.

“[T]hat’s how we go down this dangerous path of folks like the Archives and History Board deciding with impunity on what’s good and what’s not and what they ought to be pushing and indoctrinating folks with, as opposed to actually being responsive and responsible to elected officials and, more importantly, to the people of the state of Alabama,” he said.

During the special session, the Legislature failed to pass a bill that would have taken back a $5 million appropriation for the agency from the education supplemental budget that passed during the regular session.

“The funding solution was a short-term immediate solution,” he said, “and it was … filed really to get the Alabama Department of Archive and History’s attention.”

The lawmaker said he’s not happy with the response he’s seen from the leads in the department.

“They were indignant. ‘We know better. We’re going to do what we think is right. This is our mission is to teach the history of drag in Alabama. The history of crossdressing in Alabama. The history of transsexuals in Alabama, and this is part of our mission. And we feel it’s important to teach that history.’ And so they decided to ignore the Legislature,” Elliot said. “Ignore the elected representatives in the state of Alabama.”

Elliott said the Legislature needs to rein in the ADAH and thinks he will get enough support to get his bill passed.

“And so we decided…the better way to handle this was to simple to make sure that the board is appointed by the governor, by the lieutenant governor, by the Speaker of the House, and the pro tem of the Senate, so that board reflected Alabama values and not pushing this woke ideology and indoctrinating folks…,” Elliott said. “There are a number of cosponsors already and it is pre-filed. I expect the legislation to move quickly.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee