Press Release:
OutFront Minnesota Praises Minneapolis Vote
To Repeal "Restroom Ordinance"
 

September 29, 2003 - For immediate release.

(Minneapolis) - In a 9-2 vote, the Minneapolis City Council voted today to repeal the City's "restroom ordinance," a move strongly praised by OutFront Minnesota, the state's leading organization serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities and their allies.

"OutFront Minnesota is very, very pleased that a majority of the City Council recognized that this ordinance, as written, created more problems than it purported to solve," said OutFront Minnesota Executive Director Ann M. DeGroot. "According to City Council research, repealing the ordinance puts Minneapolis in the same position as every other city in Minnesota."

The now-repealed ordinance arguably made it a crime for any person, at any time, for any reason - even by accident - to be in the restroom designated for the opposite sex, says OutFront Minnesota Legal & Policy Analyst Phil Duran. "Testimony before a council committee in August and September showed that this ordinance was actually ambiguous, and arguably applied to a wide range of situations no reasonable legislator would ever intend to criminalize," said Duran. Some of those situations included a disabled person having an opposite-sex personal care attendant assist them in the restroom, a parent taking a minor opposite-sex child into a restroom to change a diaper, and even a cleaning person mopping the opposite-sex restroom in an empty office building.

From OutFront Minnesota's perspective, the critical impact the ordinance had was on transgender individuals who found themselves threatened and harassed for doing nothing other than going to the bathroom.

"Several individuals stepped forward in opposition to this proposal, speaking from the heart about concerns they had," acknowledged Monica Meyer, OutFront Minnesota's Public Policy Director, "but as the City Attorney established, numerous city ordinances and State laws exist that criminalize every sort of misconduct articulated by opponents of the repeal. The world will not change, but at last Minneapolis is rid of this ambiguous, harmful, and redundant ordinance."

Contact: Monica Meyer, Public Policy Director
(612) 822-0127, ext. 115

Phil Duran, Legal Policy Analyst
(612) 822-0127, ext. 102

Update: OutFront Minnesota convinces Minnetonka City Council to alter restroom ordinance to protect transgender restroom users (May 2008)

Update: At OutFront Minnesota’s urging, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board amends restroom regulation to eliminate gender-specific restrictions (September 2006)

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OutFront Minnesota is a non-partisan organization serving the GLBT and allied communities of Minnesota. All services including voter guides, voter information, and voter registration are made available without regard to a voter's political preference or on the basis of support or opposition to a particular candidate.