Trans Lawmaker Sets Internet Ablaze With Bill to Remove Anti-Pedophile Language From MN Human Rights Act

(Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP)

Americans have been raising a lot of concerns about the effort by some on the left to push radical agendas on kids, from trying to focus on gender identity and inappropriate sexual topics in schools to having drag shows for children. It’s an insane direction and everyone who cares about kids should be concerned.

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Now, Rep. Leigh Finke, a transgender lawmaker in Minnesota, has raised more questions that have the internet lighting up because of a proposed bill to change the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

The bill would amend Minnesota’s Human Rights Act, which is described by the state as “one of the strongest civil rights laws in the country.” The current Human Rights Act protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation, defined as “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.”

The law also includes this caveat: “‘Sexual orientation’ does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult.” That language would be removed under Finke’s proposal.

Now obviously the language was in there to make a comment against pedophilia and make clear that it is not a “protected class.”

Finke said the move was about updating “outdated language that incorrectly ties pedophilia to a person’s sexual orientation.”

“Nothing in the bill changes or weakens any crimes against children, or the state’s ability to prosecute those who break the law,” Finke said. “Of course, pedophilia is not a sexual orientation. The language never should have been included in the statutory definition in the first place. Crimes against children are located in Minnesota’s criminal statutes, and again, they remain unchanged.”

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Finke’s bill also includes a definition of “gender identity”:

“‘Gender identity’ means a person’s inherent sense of being a man, woman, both, or neither. A person’s gender identity may or may not correspond to their assigned sex at birth or to their primary or secondary sex characteristics. A person’s gender identity is not necessarily visible to others.”

This was not going over well with the Republicans. GOP House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth told Fox that this decision to take the language out was “disturbing.”

“Under the Human Rights Act, the definition of sexual orientation says that sexual orientation does not include physical or sexual attraction to children by an adult — or, more simply described, pedophilia,” she said. “The Democrats’ decision to strike this language is disturbing and inexplicable.”

“House Republicans will be presenting an amendment today to clarify that pedophilia is absolutely not a protected class under the Human Rights Act. We sincerely hope Democrats will join us in ensuring our children are protected,” Demuth said.

Now it’s true that pedophilia is not a “sexual orientation” — but that’s exactly what the language says. “‘Sexual orientation’ does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult.” So why would you take it out? Why would Finke want to change it? Leaving it in clarifies a very important point here, which is that it isn’t protected under this act and that there’s no acceptable way to argue this as “sexual orientation” under the bill. So Finke’s argument doesn’t make a lot of sense, which is why the Republicans were pushing back against it.

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I think it’s safe to say this raised a lot of eyebrows and set the internet ablaze by people furious that the language would be changed, with people speaking about a “slippery slope” and about where this might be going, as well as speaking out against pedophilia.

As we previously reported, USA Today named the person behind the proposed change in the act, Leigh Finke, as one of their “Women of the Year.”

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