Overview
- This week Minneapolis committees moved a package of ordinance changes through public hearings and votes, sending the measures to a full City Council vote scheduled for June 23.
- City documents and council members say the measures would not immediately legalize bathhouses but would relocate stigmatizing health language and create zoning, building and sanitation rules needed to allow regulated venues in the future.
- The proposals advanced on narrow committee margins, passing the Business, Housing & Zoning Committee 4-3 and the Public Health, Safety & Equity (Health and Safety) Committee 6-1, showing split support among council members.
- Supporters including LGBTQ organizers and public health advocates say updated rules would let future venues offer on-site services like rapid HIV testing and PrEP outreach to reduce harm, while opponents worry about neighborhood siting, proximity to schools and using adult-entertainment code as the regulatory vehicle.
- The debate traces to a 1988 ban enacted during the AIDS crisis that supporters say carried stigma; other U.S. cities now regulate sex venues, so a council vote and any mayoral approval or veto will determine whether Minneapolis creates a formal path for regulation and oversight.