(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

In May 2019, then-Minnesota Sen. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka led his Republican caucus to vote down a statewide ban on conversion therapy. This vote allowed the practice to continue until Minnesota Governor Tim Walz enacted partial restrictions through an executive order in July.

That legislative clash, and the resulting party line rejection of a conversion therapy ban, is the tip of the anti-gay iceberg for the former legislator, who once said, “I cry over the issue.”

During his tenure as an elected official, Gazelka promoted the falsehood that sexual assault can turn women gay and questioned whether lack of closeness between a biological parent and their child of the same sex could cause one to become homosexual. 

At home, and well-documented by the Star Tribune, Gazelka sent his child, Genna, to a so-called Christian counseling clinic run by Marcus Bachmann, the husband of former far-right U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. 

Genna, who identifies as bi-gender and is now 32, told the Star Tribune their father sent them, as a teenager, to a religious counselor who practiced conversion therapy and denounced same-sex relationships.

Conversion therapy “[tries to] take these different elements that might have possibly contributed to someone else being different and tries to shape that out of people,” Genna said of their experience. “And they take specifics, and they attack, and it is bullying, and it is wrong, and it is harassment.”

Gazelka confirmed to the Star Tribune that he sent Genna to the clinic. According to the paper, he claimed it was for “healing,” not for sexual-identity conversion.

“I went from having a somewhat supportive youth pastor counselor who was aware it was highly likely I was lesbian to being sent to Bachmann’s clinic,” Genna said in an interview.

Genna is one of half a million Americans to survive conversion therapy, a practice they endured and described as synonymous with torture.

As Paul Gazelka revs up his campaign for governor, his record of anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy has come under fire.

“He has been one of the main reasons we haven’t been able to pass our Mental Health Protections Bill that would ban [conversion therapy] from being practiced on minors in Minnesota,” said James Darville, policy director for LGBTQ+ advocacy organization OutFront Minnesota. “This is child abuse, and he supports it. There are no mincing words around that.”

The executive order cannot entirely ban the practice, and it is unlikely a blanket prohibition could pass the state’s current Republican-controlled Senate. 

Darvill says he hopes Minn. voters will notice Gazelka’s “hatred of Queer folks” as the senator’s campaign becomes more active.

“He sees a world and truly prefers a world where Queer folks don’t exist, and I hope people can look at their queer family and friends and see humanity in them and not vote for someone who doesn’t.”

Gazelka, for his part, has previously claimed his relationship with the LGBTQ+ community is just fine. “Well, I rub shoulders with a lot of different people,” he told conservative evangelical leader Andrew Wommack during an interview for his Truth & Liberty program last year. “Y’know, I’m elbow-deep trying to connect to the gay community and all the different groups of people. And I just want to say I… look at Jesus’ life, and he was attracted to the sinner.”

Conversion therapy is an outdated, cruel form of abuse aimed at changing an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Every major medical and psychological group in the U.S. has discredited and warned against this practice as ineffective and harmful. The American Medical Association, the medical professional organization that has maintained a code of medical ethics since 1847, condemned the practice in a 2019 brief.

Dr. Jack Drescher, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University, says conversion therapy can cause depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Drescher has seen patients dealing with the effects of this practice since the 1980s and emphasizes it is harmful and politicized. 

“It’s not always a logical issue,” Drescher says. “As we know public health and logic are not always going together these days and that’s pretty much the case around this issue as well.”

With Gov. Walz’s order, Minnesota became the 21st state to ban conversion therapy for minors.

“Our kids deserve to grow up in a state that values them for who they are – not one that tries to change them,” Gov. Walz said on the day he issued the action. “This Executive Order aims to protect young and vulnerable Minnesotans from the cruel and discredited practice of conversion therapy and affirms that the LGBTQ+ community is an integral part of One Minnesota. This is not the end of our work to see this practice become a thing of the past. We will continue to fight for love over hate every single day.”

Asked whether he would repeal Gov. Walz’s conversion therapy ban, the Gazelka campaign did not respond for comment.

Walz, running for reelection, has argued that other candidates should not seek to undo the executive order. Scott Jensen, another Republican candidate for governor and former legislator, also voted against a conversion therapy ban.

Genna Gazelka uses they/them pronouns.

AnnMarie Welser contributed to this report.