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Monday, Apr. 13, 2026

Have Minnesota cities had bans on cross-dressing in public?

Brian Arola, MinnPost
yes

The city of Benson, for instance, has a cross-dressing ordinance against wearing “dress not belonging to his or her sex” in a public place.

Located under a disorderly conduct section in the Swift County city’s codes, the ban is alongside prohibitions on public nudity and pornographic books and pictures. However, the ordinance is decades old and is not enforced, City Manager Matt Skaret said. 

Although now mostly relics, other Minnesota cities had “cross-dressing” bans. Minneapolis had an ordinance from 1877 to the mid-1990s, and St. Paul’s stayed in place from 1891 to 2003. 

Many such ordinances passed in U.S. cities in the 1800s as more people moved to cities from rural areas, according to Minnesota historian Lizzie Ehrenhalt, resulting in more interactions with strangers.

Ehrenhalt said some cities thought cross-dressing bans would cut down on fraud by preventing people from pretending to be someone else.

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