Minnesota state representative Leigh Finke, who identifies as a transgender woman, introduced a bill seeking the removal of language that associates pedophilia with a person's sexual orientation from the state's Human Rights Act.
Finke's Take Pride Act, introduced earlier this year, seeks to strike language that currently states pedophiles are not included in protections based on "sexual orientation."
Minnesota's Human Rights Act currently protects discrimination based on sexual orientation and defines the term as “having or being perceived as having an emotional, physical, or sexual attachment to another person without regard to the sex of that person or having or being perceived as having an orientation for such attachment, or having or being perceived as having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one's biological maleness or femaleness."
Finke's bill counters the state's Human Rights Act as the Minnesota representative claims the measure "updates outdated language that incorrectly ties pedophilia to a person's sexual orientation."
"Nothing in the bill changes or weakens any crimes against children, or the state's ability to prosecute those who break the law," Finke said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Of course, pedophilia is not a sexual orientation."
"The language never should have been included in the statutory definition in the first place," Finke continued. "Crimes against children are located in Minnesota’s criminal statutes, and again, they remain unchanged."
The Take Pride Act further seeks to include the definition of "gender identity" as “a person's inherent sense of being a man, woman, both, or neither. A person's gender identity may or may not correspond to their assigned sex at birth or to their primary or secondary sex characteristics. A person's gender identity is not necessarily visible to others."
Finke's measure has been incorporated to the Judiciary Policy omnibus bill slated for consideration on the House Floor today, according to one Minnesota House source.
GOP House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth told the outlet Finke and Democrat's push to strike language from the state's Human Rights Act was "disturbing and inexplicable."
"Under the Human Rights Act, the definition of sexual orientation says that sexual orientation does not include physical or sexual attraction to children by an adult," Demuth said adding, "more simply described, pedophilia."
The measure also seeks to strike language from Minnesota's Human Rights Act noting "'Sexual orientation' does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult."
"House Republicans will be presenting an amendment today to clarify that pedophilia is absolutely not a protected class under the Human Rights Act. We sincerely hope Democrats will join us in ensuring our children are protected," Demuth added.
