Nearly 40 years later, Minneapolis repeals bathhouse ban

This story originally appeared on Them.Following a 9-2 vote, the Minneapolis City Council voted Thursday to repeal the city’s longstanding ban on adult bathhouses, a nearly 40-year prohibition that dates back to the earliest days of the AIDS crisis, per MPR News.The last bathhouse in operation in Minneapolis closed in 1988 during the height of the AIDS crisis, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.Jason Chavez, the only out LGBTQ+ member of the council, co-authored the two ordinances required to repeal the ban and, during his remarks, invoked the name of Brian Coyle, a former out gay member of the Minneapolis City Council who voted to pass the ban in 1988, per MPR News. Coyle died in 1991 of AIDS-related complications.“Today is the first step and it will not be the last. And it is an important one,” he said. “I believe if Brian Coyle was here with us today, with everything we know about public health, he would be standing with us proudly and me on this council so I would not feel alone taking this vote.”Members of the council emphasized that the repeal of the ban does not mean that such facilities can open right away. Rather, now that the repeal is in place — awaiting a signature from Mayor Jacob Frey, who supports it — the council must now set up regulations for how the bathhouses can function.Many are advocating for a similar framework to the guidelines implemented in San Francisco, with a focus on safety and public health, per the Star Tribune. That would include requirements for condom availability, monitoring, staff training, waste disposal, and facilities where people can shower.“This won’t leave bathhouses in a gray area,” Chavez said, per the Star Tribune. “We still need to work on zoning, the safety and regulations. So bathhouses won’t be able to open tomorrow or next week.”Council member Elizabeth Schaffer, who represents the neighborhood where the city holds its annual pride festival, voted to keep the ban in place and said tha