Minnesota State Capitol

75 Constitution Avenue, St. Paul, MN. (1905-2010)

No other site in Minnesota has proved as important as the State Capitol. Home to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, architect Cass’ Gilbert’s award-winning building is equally important to the state’s LGBT community. Legislators, Governors, and Judges made and continue to make decisions on sodomy, marriage, HIV/AIDS, adoption, hate crimes, employment non-discrimination, and other elements of queer life within this building.

Photograph from the "AIDS Action Day" sponsored by the Minnesota AIDs Project (MAP). Photo by Sophia Hantzes.

At the time of the Capitol’s completion in 1905, all forms of non-coital sex were open to severe punishment,(1) and openly-queer politicians were unimaginable. The late State Senator Allan Spear (1937-2008)--of the 60th District in Minneapolis--was the first Minnesota politician come out as LGBT in 1974.(2) He was also one of the first American politicians to come out as gay. His admission presented no threat to his political career—indeed, Senator Spear retired from office—after 28 years of service—in 2000.

Other notable politicians include the first lesbian to openly serve in the state’s government Karen Clark—who has served the 61st district since 1980, and the first openly-LGBT Republican Paul Koering (R-12), who represents portions of Crow Wing and Morrison Counties in northern Minnesota.

The Capitol has often been the site of intense political action. Displayed by protest marches and political rallies, these activities are typically responses to legal decisions. However, OutFront Minnesota’s “justFair Lobby Day” recently refigured this paradigm, as the event attempts to preemptively challenge discriminatory proposals.(3) The event hosts rallies, meeting with lawmakers, and workshops while displaying to the State “how strong the community is.”

Sodomy remained a criminal act in Minnesota’s legal code until a “coalition of plaintiffs”(4) brought the matter before a Minneapolis court. The judge ruled that the law was unconstitutional in a class-action decision. Governor Jesse Ventura and the Attorney General agreed with the decision and, in 2001, the old law finally vanished.(5)

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(1) 10 M.N. § 6216, 6217 (1891)

(2) "Senator Reveals Homosexuality" The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 12/10/1974. Page 8A.

(3) https://www.outfront.org/takeaction/lobbyday

(4) http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/sensibilities/minnesota.htm

(5) "Overturn of Sodomy Law Now Applies Statewide." The Minneapolis Tribune, 4/3/2001.

Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)