News & Stories

February 13, 2019

Minnesota Public Radio: House advances bill to ban conversion therapy in Minnesota

Wil Sampson-Bernstrom still can’t remember it all.

Bernstrom spent four years in therapy designed to “cure” him of his attraction toward men, sometimes through a process he likened to hypnosis.

February 13, 2019

FOX 9: Democrats, LGBTQ advocates seek ‘conversion therapy' ban

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota Democrats and LGBTQ advocates on Thursday pushed to ban a practice in which therapists try to change the sexual orientation of gay people.

The crowd was so big, a House committee room reached capacity and supporters of the measure spilled out into the hallway. They are seeking to make Minnesota the 16th state to prohibit the controversial practice, though the bill faces an uncertain path in the divided state Legislature.

February 13, 2019

Pioneer Press: Battle over gay ‘conversion therapy’ ban heats up at Minnesota Capitol

Armed with a wagonload of Valentine’s Day cards and stories of traumatic treatment by survivors, advocates pressed Minnesota lawmakers Wednesday to ban gay “conversion therapy,” the widely discredited practice of trying to make gay people not gay.

Cat Salonek, advocacy director for the LGBTQ group OutFront Minnesota, delivers a wagon of Valentine’s Day cards urging lawmakers to ban so-called “gay conversion therapy” at the State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. (Dave Orrick) / Pioneer Press)

February 13, 2019

KARE 11: Conversion therapy ban advances in House

A bill that would ban conversion therapy for Minnesota children cleared its first hurdle Wednesday night, passing a House committee.

February 13, 2019

WCCO: Gay Conversion Therapy Ban Considered By Minn. Lawmakers

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minnesota House committee opened hearings Wednesday on a bill banning the controversial practice of using therapy to make gay people straight.

A number of states have already banned the practice, called “conversion therapy.”

February 5, 2019

KARE 11: Hate speech is finding kids online, even if they're not looking

Kids are exposed to hate speech in video games, memes and social media, and it can be devastating for the ones targeted. But experts tell KARE 11 it can have a negative impact on any teen’s brain as they try to develop their values.

February 5, 2019

KARE 11: LGBTQ advocate shares his experience dealing with hate speech

Hate speech is finding kids online, even if they're not looking. Clint Peterson, an LGBTQ youth advocate from greater Minnesota, experienced that firsthand.

February 4, 2019

Junior's Story: Surviving Conversion Therapy

My name is Junior Avalos.

From a young age, as a kid, I was aware that the love and affection that I displayed was different from what was expected from me. I was vibrant, warm, maternal, and tender.

I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, and I was taught that there were many different ways that I could express love and different ways love could be manifested and offered in return, and that I was eternally loved by my creator, my family, and my community, shaped into the image that God intended me to be, I was born the way I was supposed to be.

Photo of Junior Avalos next to a river and city skyline.

January 29, 2019

Pioneer Press: Marriage equality? Lesbian married parents actually aren’t treated the same, legally, as straight couples. Will it change?

Half of married gay women in Minnesota are forced to adopt their own children under Minnesota law.

That inequity — man-woman married couples don’t have this hurdle — is a paradox, since same-sex married couples are supposed to have the same rights in the state. In 2013, same-sex marriage became legal.

January 28, 2019

Wil's Story: Surviving Conversion Therapy

My name is Wil. I am an elder at Apple Valley Community of Christ and I survived "conversion therapy."

Photo of Wil Sampson-Bernstrom and his Corgi