by Harold Hutchison
The Children’s Minnesota Hospital system gave Democratic Minnesota State Rep. Leigh Finke an award Tuesday for her work in children’s health after she authored a bill designed to protect child sex changes.
Finke, who is transgender, was the chief author of HF146, Minnesota’s “trans refuge” legislation, which would prevent the enforcement of out-of-state laws that would remove a child from their parent’s home for receiving transgender medical interventions, such as hormones or puberty blockers. Finke received the “Children’s Health Hero” award from the Minnesota hospital system for her work on the bill, according to a release from Children’s Minnesota.
“The law protects access to gender affirming care for Minnesotans and for those traveling to Minnesota from other states,” Children’s Minnesota said in a statement.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota signed the legislation into law April 27.
Finke was also the author of a bill that would strip anti-pedophile language from the state’s existing anti-discrimination law. The law currently excludes sexual attraction to children from its list of legally protected sexual orientations, but Finke’s bill would remove language specifying that exclusion, which activists have argued could lead to pedophilia being interpreted as a protected sexual orientation.
We are pleased to announce that Rep. @leighfinke is this year’s recipient of the Children’s Health Hero award. Children’s Minnesota presents the award annually to legislators who champion child health issues at the Minnesota Capitol.https://t.co/lkzQHUjrDq
— Children's Minnesota (@childrensmn) May 24, 2023
Republican state Rep. Harry Niska later proposed an amendment to the bill that would clarify that pedophilia is not a protected class, which was adopted unanimously.
Children’s Minnesota describes itself as “the only health system in the state that cares exclusively for children” and contains two hospitals and 25 other facilities for primary care, specialty care and rehabilitation, according to its website.
“I am extremely honored to be presented the Health Hero Award from Children’s Minnesota. At a time when young children are exploring who they are, and where they fit in society, we need to advocate and fight for their right to discover those identities with dignity and compassion,” Rep. Finke said, according to the release.
Similar “trans refuge” legislation has been passed in California in response to states like Utah, which passed legislation or which took steps to restrict sex change procedures on children. The legislation requires California courts to not enforce court orders from other states that revoke child custody over child sex change procedures.
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Harold Hutchison is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Leigh Finke” by Leigh for Minnesota. Background Photo “Minnesota Capitol” by faith-daphne.
