LGBT rights in Minnesota

Before the arrival of the Europeans, there were no known legal or social punishments for engaging in homosexual activity. Several Native American tribes recognized individuals who would act, behave and live as the opposite biological sex, nowadays also called "two-spirit". The Dakota people refer to male-bodied individuals who act as female as winkta. They are ikwekaazo (literally "men who chose to function as women") among the Ojibwe. Likewise, female-bodied individuals who act and live as male are ininiikaazo (literally "women who choose to function as men").

In 1849, the Minnesota Territory was given Wisconsin's laws, including a ban on heterosexual and homosexual sodomy, which was defined by the common law. When Minnesota drafted its own criminal code in 1851, it kept this prohibition. In 1909, the penalty for sodomy was increased to 20 years' imprisonment, and in 1921, the Minnesota Legislature expanded the definition of sodomy to include fellatio.[2] Beyond the criminal laws, vagrancy laws banned anyone from soliciting for "immoral purposes".

In 1939, a wave of child molestation cases in Saint Paul led to the enactment of a psychopathic offender law, which included LGBT people alongside rapists and child molesters. Though justified by the need to protect children and others from sexual abuse, those convicted of homosexuality constituted the major part of those imprisoned under it.[2]

In 1967, the penalty for sodomy was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a fine of 1,000 U.S. dollars. An attempt to repeal the sodomy law failed in the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1973 by a vote of 69-46 with 19 abstentions.[2]

In State v. Blom (1984), the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the criminal ban on sodomy also applied to the act of cunnilingus. A few years later in State v. Gray, the court rejected the argument that privacy rights applied to sodomy involving prostitution. However, the court did recognize that the State Constitution protected privacy rights, although it stopped short of stating whether or not private, adult, consensual and non-commercial sodomy was covered under the right to privacy.[3]

In Doe et al. v. Ventura et al. (2001), Minneapolis Judge Delilah Pierce ruled that the sodomy law violated the State Constitution when dealing with private, adult, consensual and non-commercial sodomy. The ruling was later certified as being a class action lawsuit and the state did not appeal, thus voiding the law in terms of private, consensual, non-commercial acts of sodomy by consenting adults,[4] two years before Lawrence v. Texas. While void and unenforceable, the sodomy statute remains on the books.[5]

Same-sex marriage became legal in Minnesota on August 1, 2013. There are also domestic partnership ordinances in 18 cities:

Minnesota Amendment 1

The Minneapolis City Council expressed opposition to Minnesota Amendment 1 in 2012.

Main article: Minnesota Amendment 1 (2012)

On November 6, 2012, Minnesota voters by a margin of 51.5% to 47.5% with 1% abstention defeated a proposed amendment to the State Constitution that would have banned same-sex marriage in Minnesota.[23]

In 1989, Governor Rudy Perpich created a state commission to study the prospect of adding sexual orientation to the Minnesota Human Rights Act. The commission proposal was not passed by the Minnesota Legislature, but the subsequent Governor, Arne Carlson, formed a similar committee in 1990.[28]

In 1992, Governor Carlson signed an executive order that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in state employment. In 1993, Minnesota amended its statutes to prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person's sexual orientation and/or gender identity in housing, insurance, goods and services, contracts, health benefits, hospital visitation rights, and employment.[29][30]

The Minnesota Human Rights Act uses the following definition with regards to the phrase "sexual orientation"; "Sexual orientation" means having or being perceived as having an emotional, physical, or sexual attachment to another person without regard to the sex of that person or having or being perceived as having an orientation for such attachment, or having or being perceived as having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one's biological maleness or femaleness. "Sexual orientation" does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult.[30] The law does not apply to religious organizations, youth groups and certain small businesses.[30]

Minnesota law allows single LGBT people to petition to adopt children, whilst there is no specific prohibition against joint same-sex couple adoption petitions or stepchild petitions for same-sex couples.[32] The state's only organization solely dedicated to finding families for Minnesota's children, the Minnesota Adoption Resource Network, allows same-sex partners to adopt in identical fashion to single people and opposite-sex partners.[33]

In addition, lesbian couples have access to in vitro fertilization. State law recognizes the non-genetic, non-gestational mother as a legal parent to a child born via donor insemination, but only if the parents are married.[34] Surrogacy is neither expressly prohibited nor permitted in Minnesota, but the courts have generally ruled in favor of couples, same-sex or opposite-sex, using the gestational or traditional surrogacy process.[35]

On December 17, 1991, in a landmark ruling, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, overturning a lower court ruling in In re Guardianship of Kowalski, awarded guardianship of Sharon Kowalski, brain-damaged in an accident eight years earlier, to her lesbian partner Karen Thompson over the objections of Kowalski's parents.[36]

The 1993 addition of sexual orientation to the Minnesota Human Rights Act also included the insertion of the following quote, part of which is still in force as of 2020:

363A.27 Construction Of Law.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to:
(1) mean the state of Minnesota condones homosexuality or bisexuality or any equivalent lifestyle;
(2) authorize or permit the promotion of homosexuality or bisexuality in education institutions or require the teaching in education institutions of homosexuality or bisexuality as an acceptable lifestyle;
(3) authorize or permit the use of numerical goals or quotas, or other types of affirmative action programs, with respect to homosexuality or bisexuality in the administration or enforcement of the provisions of this chapter; or
(4) authorize the recognition of or the right of marriage between persons of the same sex.

No bill has been introduced to repeal this law as of yet.[37]

Changing legal gender on Minnesota birth certificates and other identity documents does not require undergoing sex reassignment surgery. The applicant for a gender change needs to obtain a certified copy of a court order for gender change, and pay the applicable fees. Has the applicant undergone reassignment surgery, they do not require receiving a court order for gender change. The registrar will issue a new birth certificate and the old certificate will remain confidential.[38]

The state's Medicaid policy covers care related to transgender people. Minnesota law prohibits health insurance providers from excluding coverage for transgender-specific care or discriminating against transgender patients.[34]

Since October 2018, Minnesota has allowed an "X" sex descriptor on driver's licences.[39] No such option is available for birth certificates.[34] The Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services will issue an "M", "F", or "X" on a license or state ID upon request of the individual. No documentation is required.

In November 2019, Minneapolis became the first city in Minnesota to ban conversion therapy on minors. The ordinance to this effect was passed unanimously by the Minneapolis City Council. There is no statewide ban on conversion therapy due to bills lapsing for years in the Minnesota Legislature.[40]

On January 15, 2020, the city of Duluth became the second city in Minnesota to ban the practice of conversion therapy.[41][42]

In June 2020, both St. Paul and Red Wing unanimously became the third and fourth Minnesota cities respectively to legally ban conversion therapy on minors.[43][44][45][46]

In August 2020, Winona City Council became the fifth city within Minnesota to ban conversion therapy on minors.[47][48]

In September 2020, Rochester city by a vote of 6-1 passed an ordinance opposing conversion therapy on minors. Council President Randy Staver cast the sole vote against the resolution. This ordinance in Rochester became the sixth city within Minnesota to pass a conversion therapy ban.[49]

The 2018 edition of Twin Cites Pride

The Twin Cities metro area has a vibrant LGBT community, with annual pride events, community centers, nightclubs and other venues. Outside of the Twin Cities, annual pride events are held in large cities such as Duluth, Moorhead, St. Cloud and Rochester. In smaller more rural communities, the LGBT community is less visible, and prevailing social attitudes tend to more conservative,[50] though Pine City is home to one of the state's only rural prides.

A small LGBT group exists in Brainerd and another small group, SOHR (Sexual Orientation and Human Rights), exists for the lakes region.[51]

• LGBT rights in the United States
• Minnesota Family Council
• Parents Action League
• Politics of Minnesota