The Minneapolis City Council received widespread support for repealing the longstanding ban on venues, such as bathhouses, ahead of an upcoming vote on Wednesday.The council held its second public hearing regarding ordinances that would repeal the ban on venues where consenting adults can engage in sexual activity and provide new regulations regarding their business.At the hearing, council members heard from over 30 residents on repealing the ban with several LGBTQ activists speaking in favor of ending the ban, which they claim targeted people in same-sex relationships and individuals with HIV and AIDS.GALLUP POLL FINDS AMERICANS' SUPPORT FOR LGBTQ+ ISSUES SLIDING BACKWARD AMID CULTURAL SHIFTThe Minneapolis City Council held a public hearing regarding ordinances that could ban the city's ban on adult bathhouses.(Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)"Our task is not to eliminate places where people have sex but bring people out of the shadows where we can give them the tools that we have in place.
Research has shown that pushing sexual activity into less visible spaces does not eliminate the risk.It makes outreach and education more difficult," Aliveness Project researcher Jay Orne said at the hearing.Another LGBTQ activist, Patrick Scully, spoke about living during the time of the original ban in 1988."I have lived most of my life criminalized and excluded by the system.
Discrimination against me was legal until I was almost 40 years old in Minnesota.Sex was a crime in Minnesota until I was in my 50s.
Marriage was not an option until I was in my 60s," Scully said."So don’t expect me to live my life like you live your life if you’re a heterosexual.
You forced me to find other ways to live my life."TRANSGENDER MINNESOTA LAWMAKER PUSHES BACK ON ADULT SITE AGE VERIFICATION BILL OVER FEARS OF OVERREACHLGBTQ activists claimed that the original 1988 ban targeted people in same-sex relationships.(Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Other speakers promoted the benefits rep...