Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, will be introducing legislation which would prevent men from being housed in or transferred to Minnesota Correction Facility-Shakopee, Minnesota’s only female prison.
“Whether it’s on the playing field, restrooms, or prison, men do not belong in women’s spaces,” said Franson. “I will always stand up for the safety of women and girls.”
State law establishing the Shakopee prison dictates that the facility must house “persons committed to the commissioner of corrections by the courts of this state.” Franson’s bill would simply replace the phrase “persons” with “only biological females.”
The proposed legislation would also require the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) to transfer any inmates currently housed at MFC-Shakopee who are not biological females. Under Franson’s proposal, that transfer must occur within seven days after the bill becomes law.
Alpha News has previously reported that several biological men who identify as women have been housed at MCF-Shakopee. A female inmate at that facility recently spoke to Alpha News about being forced to share the prison with male inmates.
“It’s scary. It’s unpredictable. It was frightening,” the female inmate said. “It was sprung on us. We didn’t know there were men coming into the prison until we saw them. We’re all here to heal and take care of our past trauma and most of it has to do with being abused and being taken advantage of by men, so it was really terrifying when they started coming in knowing that they didn’t have the bottom surgery.”
For weeks, the Minnesota House of Representatives had been unable to function due to a legislative stalemate between Republicans and Democrats. However, that stalemate ended on Wednesday after both sides announced a power sharing agreement.
As such, legislators in the House will begin organizing the chamber, introducing bills, and holding committees in the coming days.
At the national level, President Donald Trump has taken similar action during his first weeks in office, signing executive orders to bar biological males from women’s prisons and sports.
Liz Collin contributed to this report.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
