ATLANTA, Georgia: Georgia senators ended the 39th day of their 2025 session this week by approving a bill that would ban diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools and universities.

The bill passed in a heated 33–21 vote. It started as a proposal to give public school teachers more sick days and maternity leave, but was changed to focus on banning DEI. The vote happened just hours after lawmakers in the same building passed a bill to expand free speech protections based on religion.

Senator Max Burns, a Republican from Sylvania, who sponsored the bill, said it was intended to prevent discrimination in education.

"DEI goes against equality," Burns said. "This bill supports equal opportunity."

Democrats strongly disagreed. They said banning DEI would bring back "state-sponsored discrimination" and could lead to censoring essential parts of American history, like slavery and racism.

Senator Derek Mallow, a Democrat from Savannah, said: "If you ban DEI, what's left? The opposite of diversity is uniformity — and that means no room for people to be different."

Democrats tried to make 20 changes to the bill — the most anyone can remember being proposed for a single bill — but the lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, blocked all of them without a vote.

Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II, a Democrat from Augusta, said:
"This is one of the saddest days I've seen in my 10 years here. This bill doesn't represent the people of Georgia. Tonight, the Republican Party decided to take us backwards — to a time when people didn't have full rights."

The bill now returns to the House, which must approve the changes before it can be sent to the governor for signature into law.