On Thursday, the Minneapolis City Council voted to begin the legislative process that could potentially lead to the legalization of “adult bathhouses and sex venues.”
Since 1988, adult bathhouses have been outlawed in Minneapolis. Those bathhouses, which housed saunas and pools, were almost exclusively frequented by gay men who met up for anonymous sex. As a result, the bathhouses were a hive of sexually transmitted diseases.
In Minneapolis, the bathhouses were banned largely due to the spread of AIDS throughout the gay population. The effort to outlaw adult bathhouses was supported by Minneapolis City Council Member Brian Coyle, a gay man who later died of AIDS in 1991.
Now, the Minneapolis City Council has advanced a measure that could result in bathhouses returning to the city. In a 12-0 vote, the 13-member city council directed staff to explore changes to existing law regarding bathhouses.
Council Member Pearll Warren abstained from Thursday’s vote.
At present, there are no draft ordinances that specifically propose legalizing bathhouses. Instead, Thursday’s vote instructed staff to explore changes to city business regulations, zoning law, and health codes as it relates to “adult bathhouses and sex venues.”
Whatever ordinances are ultimately drafted could lead to the legalization of bathhouses.
During Thursday’s meeting, Council Member Elliott Payne said supporters of repealing the bathhouse ban previously told the city council that existing bathhouses in other states are “a place of both community and good public health practices.”
“So as an example, when there was a big monkeypox outbreak, some of [the bathhouses] were a really strong center for distributing the vaccine for monkeypox and there was a successful public health campaign around that,” Payne said.
“We want to modernize this language so that we can recognize activity that’s already happening, but do it in a way that’s regulated and safe and can deliver better public health outcomes for our community as well as supporting these very important community spaces especially for our LGBTQ+ community,” he added.
As discussion of the bathhouses unfolded, multiple council members asked to be added as co-authors to the agenda items that will explore changes to existing city law. City council members noted that the vote was just to begin the legislative process around bathhouses.
Council Members Elizabeth Shaffer and Lisa Palmisano appeared more skeptical than other members of the council when the measure was discussed. Shaffer said Thursday’s vote was an opportunity to decide whether the topic was a high priority for the council.
Shaffer and Palmisano ultimately voted for city staff to explore changes to law.
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.
