News & Stories

February 14, 2019

PinkNews: Minnesota activists use Valentine’s cards in bid to ban gay ‘cure’ therapy

LGBT+ activists in Minnesota have attempted to convince lawmakers to ban gay ‘cure’ therapy—with the help of mounds of Valentine’s Day cards.

Minnesota LGBT+ group OutFront presented politicians with Valentine's Day cards calling for a ban on gay 'cure' therapy (TheoKeith/twitter)

February 14, 2019

KSTP: Lawmakers discuss restrictions on 'conversion therapy'

LGBTQ advocacy groups rallied at the State Capitol Wednesday prior to a hearing on a bill that would severely restrict "conversion therapy," a practice that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation.

A total of 15 states already ban the practice. Minnesota is considering becoming the 16th, or at least restricting it considerably.

February 13, 2019

Valley News Live: MN lawmakers considering a bill that would ban conversion therapy

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

The bill bans the use of conversion therapy on children under 18, or on vulnerable adults.

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.”

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 23, 2019

BiCities #269 Emma McBride: Outfront Minnesota

Emma McBride, a legislative lobbyist with Outfront Minnesota, discusses the upcoming bill in the Minnesota legislature to ban conversion therapies.