According to the article they are forbidden to call it anything other than the gulf of America, except specifically in a historical context. But only when “reasonable” which means they can ignore that exception whenever they feel like doing so.
This bizarre law provides that “all state and local entities and their employees shall be required to … [r]efer to the body of water that borders the coast of Alabama as the ‘Gulf of America,’ ” including “in all newly created maps, documents, educational materials, websites, official communications, and other resources.” Section 3 contains a limited exception to this general rule: “Nothing in this section shall prohibit a public K–12 school or public institution of higher education from using the term ‘Gulf of Mexico’ within a larger course of academic instruction when reasonable for historical purposes.”
…furies are awesome which is reason number 487 why Babylon 5…