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Not Protected

Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sign into law a new definition of "sexual orientation" to protect adults who are physically and sexually attracted to children? No, that's not true: Pedophilia is not considered a legally protected sexual orientation in Minnesota. Changes to the law removed some language specifically excluding pedophilia from the definition of protected sexual orientations. But, that does not mean it is now protected.

The claim appeared in a post on Instagram on August 7, 2024. The post included a video and a caption that read:

Last February, the state of Minnesota (& Governor Walz) updated the law's definition of s*xual orientation to SPECIFICALLY INCLUDE adults who are attracted to children in a physical or s*xual manner.

No, this is not satire or hyperbole.

Still think these people aren't trying to normalize this stuff?

Make sure you know who you're REALLY voting for, America 👀

This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:

(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Thu Aug 8 14:38:07 2024 UTC)

Lead Stories watched the video included in the post making the claim and found that it referenced a bill introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2023 called HF 1655 (archived here), also known as the Take Pride Act (archived here). There is a section of HF 1655 that proposes an amended definition of "sexual orientation," with the initial definition of the phrase coming from the 2022 Minnesota Statutes (archived here). The law as amended and signed by Walz, struck from sexual orientation's legal definition this phrase: "Sexual orientation' does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult." The new law does not replace that phrasing with a section that protects pedophilia.

Also, the Take Pride Act was not passed when the video claimed: A version of the Take Pride Act was passed into law in May 2023.

In an email sent to Lead Stories on August 8, 2024, Minnesota Rep. Leigh Finke (archived here), the lead author of HF 1655, told us the claim is not true. Finke stated:

Sexual abuse of children is illegal, and Minnesota's statutes make that very clear. No serious observer of the Take Pride Act would conclude that pedophilia is protected. The changes were made to take harmful, anti-LGBTQ language out of statute.

... we passed the legislation I intended to pass. That legislation never included ANY protections for pedophiles in Minnesota, nor would we have ever attempted to pass such legislation.

The most current version of Minnesota's statutes at the time of writing this fact check, 2023 Minnesota Statutes, defines "sexual orientation" (archived here) without acknowledging pedophilia:

'Sexual orientation' means to whom someone is, or is perceived of as being, emotionally, physically, or sexually attracted to based on sex or gender identity. A person may be attracted to men, women, both, neither, or to people who are genderqueer, androgynous, or have other gender identities.

At the time this was written, the claim had previously been reviewed by other fact checking organizations, including PolitiFact and USA Today, both in 2023.

Walz is Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate for her 2024 presidential campaign. Other Lead Stories fact checks related to the 2024 election can be found here.