Democratic Minnesota state representatives introduced legislation that could end the exclusion of pedophilia from legal protections of sexual orientation in state law.

The state’s existing anti-discrimination law excludes sexual attraction to children from legally protected sexual orientations, but HF 1655 would remove that exclusion.

The bill describes itself as “removing certain sections in the human rights act that allow for discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

The phrase “‘sexual orientation’ does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult” would be struck from the legal definition of sexual orientation if the bill passes.

Sexual orientation is a protected legal class in Minnesota in areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, public service, educational institutions, credit and business discrimination.

The legislation also creates a legal definition for gender identity and specifies that gender identity may not match one’s biological sex and may not be visible to others.

Leigh Finke, who is listed first among the bill’s authors, is transgender and frequently speaks out against legal restrictions on child sex changes.

Finke did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment, but did make a statement on Twitter in response to blowback against the bill.

“The past 36 hours in this job have been the most difficult so far,” Finke wrote. “I’ve been confronted, called the worst things possible, threatened with murder. The volume has been greater than at any point.

“All for a lie told about a small bill that changes nothing about sexual orientation.”

“So much cruelty. For what? For a one minute floor debate on a 2 line amendment that received a unanimous vote. Literally. No. Controversy. Folks could have listened, but they didn’t want to. They instead used the opportunity to amplify the hatred of trans people.”

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