Transgender rights in focus during rally at Minnesota State Capitol
Hundreds of transgender rights supporters in Minnesota are protesting the Trump administration's policy declaring that it's the policy of the federal government to recognize only two genders.
"Your visibility here matters," Kat Rohn, executive director of Outfront Minnesota, said. "Our visibility matters."
Speakers during a rally at the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda Monday praised the state as a safe haven and ground zero in the fight for trans rights.
"I believe we can carry each other through this moment and into a better future," Rohn said.
Gov. Tim Walz received a roaring reception as he held up a proclamation and said, "I therefore declare Monday, March 31st, 2025, Transgender Day of Visibility across the state of Minnesota."
Walz said afterward that he is working on defending the rights of transgender soldiers in the Minnesota National Guard.
"We've got Americans that raised their hand, volunteered, serving honorably, getting excellent and effective performance reviews. It doesn't seem right to me that we shouldn't allow them to serve."
Among those attending the rally was Jules Bennett, a transgender woman who just moved to Minnesota from Florida.
"I was losing my rights down there. I was losing my rights to medical access. It was getting difficult to live in public society in Florida. It was just getting very scary down there," Bennett said.
As the White House continues to move forward with its two gender policy, leaders at Monday's rally say Minnesota will only increase its visibility as a transgender refuge, and that leaders here will only increase their visibility as leaders of the fight against the administration.
In 2023, state lawmakers passed legislation officially making Minnesota a transgender refuge state.
