SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Chants of "stop the madness" filled the State Capitol Rotunda Tuesday as conservative leaders denounced the DFL majority's legislative agenda.
The Freedom Rally, which drew an overflow crowd, was sponsored by the Center of the American Experiment think tank. It gave Republicans a chance to lash out at bills Gov. Tim Walz has signed, or may yet sign, this session.
"These are the people who don’t understand where their food comes from and they don’t understand how the electricity gets to their houses," Isaac Orr of the CAE lamented, as part of an attack on the Carbon Free by 2040 Act signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Walz.
"We’re closing down too many coal plants, too many gas plants, and trying to replace them with wind and solar that only work about 33 percent or 18 percent of the time."
Since taking control of both chambers of the legislature in January, Democrats have moved at a rapid pace to pass bills that were previously blocked by Senate Republicans. The GOP contingent no longer holds enough seats to stop legislation that can pass with a simple majority.
"We lost the majority, but we are committed every single day to 2026, to getting back the majority to protect our rights in Minnesota for freedom, for liberty, for our families," Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson of East Grand Forks told the crowd.
Republican legislators sharply criticized the Democratic majority and Walz for the Protect Reproductive Freedom Act, which codified the 1995 Doe v. Gomez ruling that established the right to abortions in Minnesota even after Roe v Wade was overturned.
They also had pointed remarks for a bill that would strip existing restrictions, such as the 24-hour waiting period, counseling about controversial research linking abortion to breast cancer, and the requirement for minors to get both parents' consent. Some of those restrictions have already been ruled constitutional by Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan.
"The trifecta, as they call themselves, is working to pass some of the most egregious abortion policies in the world, putting Minnesota on par with countries like China and North Korea," Renee Carlson of the Minnesota Family Council and True North Legal, asserted.
Jim Schultz, who lost a close race against incumbent Attorney General Keith Ellison in 2022, said Capitol Democrats aren't focused on the issues Minnesotans care about most.
"We have a legislature and a governor focused on things like abortion on demand for all nine months of pregnancy, and a legislature and a governor focused on things like pumping kids full of drugs to try to change their gender," Johnson said.
According to physicians at Children's Hospital and other clinics who've briefed lawmakers and the Capitol press, it's extremely rare for anyone under 18 to undergo surgery on their genitals. They say most gender-affirming health care is counseling and advice, while some adolescents do receive puberty blockers or hormone therapy.
Gov. Walz signed an executive order last month aimed at providing legal protection to children from other states who come here for gender-affirming health care. The House passed the "Trans Refuge" bill on March 24 that would put those protections into law, but the Senate has yet to take final action on it.
KTLK radio personality Jon Justice lambasted the Democrats' efforts to make Minnesota more welcoming to transgender people.
"My name is Jon Justice. I identify as a man," Justice said to a rousing cheer from the crowd.
"That’s because that’s what I am. I’m a fan of reality. And that’s how God made me. Oh, and my pronouns are 'I don’t care.'"
Justice and other speakers referred to the drag artist who performed four days earlier in the same spot, as part of the rally marking Transgender Day of Visibility.
During that event, Tomi Saint James danced on the glass star, a part of the Rotunda floor which has been cordoned off for more than 40 years.
"Stepping over and dancing on that star in a very wrong, wrong way," House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, a Cold Spring Republican, declared.
"That is something that is symbolic of what is being brought forward in our state, stamping on our freedom, stamping on the true North Star."