Louisiana lawmaker behind Ten Commandments bill is eyeing more culture war wins

The Louisiana lawmaker behind the radical new law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms across her state is no stranger to the culture wars.

State Rep. Dodie Horton, a Republican from Haughton, Louisiana, is also one of the prime movers behind her state’s bill prohibiting teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation from kindergarten to 12th grade. Referred to by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” a similar law became well-known after it was passed in Florida.

It’s now awaiting the signature of Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a conservative Republican who on Wednesday signed the Ten Commandments legislation into law.

Civil liberties groups are already lining up to challenge the constitutionality of both laws that Horton has been backing. And they have precedent on their side — back in 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional.

NBC News has reached out to Horton. But in earlier interviews, Horton has been unapologetic about pushing religion into public schools.

“I’m not concerned with an atheist. I’m not concerned with a Muslim,” Horton, who is a Southern Baptist, said during a House debate in April. “I’m concerned with our children looking and seeing what God’s law is.”

Still, the law also could face some liturgical challenges because the newly signed statute calls for posting the version of the Ten Commandments that Protestants use, which is slightly different from the versions that Catholics and Jews use.

The daughter of a Shreveport, Louisiana, police officer, Horton is a 67-year-old married mother of three and grandmother of four whose heavily Protestant district in northwestern Louisiana is geographically and religiously closer to Dallas than New Orleans, which is in the strongly Catholic southern part of the state.

Horton, who is a high school graduate but does not appear to have gone to college, was the longtime legislative assistant to Henry Burns, whom she succeeded in 2016 after winning the election to replace him in the heavily Republican district.

At the time, Horton said she was a member of the Fillmore Baptist Church in Haughton.

Horton made her first attempt at getting a “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed in 2022.

“Certain teachers use classroom instructional time to share their personal sexual orientation or gender identity preferences with our most vulnerable citizens, our children,” Horton told the Louisiana House Education Committee, without offering any proof.

They should be teaching the curriculum, Horton said, not telling students, “Hey, everybody! I was a woman yesterday, but tomorrow I may be Mr. So and So.”

Horton’s bill did not make it out of the committee and she wound up withdrawing it altogether.

“Next year,” Horton vowed.

But the next year, Horton authored a bill that would require that public schools display the “In God We Trust” motto in all public school classrooms. This one was signed into law in June 2023.

“It doesn’t preach any particular religion at all, but it certainly does recognize a higher power,” Horton said at the time.

A self-described “problem solver,” Horton did not touch on the hot-button cultural issues that have thrust her into the national spotlight when she spoke in September 2023 with the local Bossier Press-Tribune about what she might do if she were elected for a third and final term.

Instead, Horton talked about tackling crime, cutting taxes, and bread-and-butter issues like lowering home and auto insurance rates.

“I have the experience and a proven conservative voting record that proves beyond a shadow of doubt that I have truly been the voice of our people,” she insisted.