Ethics panel takes up complaint against Republican senator who sent graphic video link

An ethics panel Tuesday delayed action for yet another day on the question of whether Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen violated the norms of the state Senate by sending to his 66 colleagues a link to a video about gender-affirming surgery.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, filed the complaint against the Glencoe Republican in April 2023, but the Senate's ethics subcommittee didn't take it up until now. The four-person panel agreed to think about it and come back at 3 p.m. Wednesday to decide what, if anything, should be done.

The timing of the meeting was a concern for the two Republicans on the committee, who noted that the hearing occurred only after a complaint was recently filed against Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, over her alleged attempted first-degree burglary of the Detroit Lakes home of her father's widow.

"The perception is the only reason we have this complaint in front of us now is because the other complaint was filed," Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona said. Sen. Andrew Mathews, R-Princeton, expressed similar concerns.

For more than two hours, the committee heard from and questioned Maye Quade and Gruenhagen before agreeing on a motion by Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, to think about it overnight.

Mathews initially moved for a finding of no probable cause for wrongdoing. But the motion failed on a tie with the two Republicans voting for it and Kunesh and Chairman Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, against it.

Maye Quade argued that by sending a link of gender-affirming surgery to all senators last year, Gruenhagen violated the Senate norms and should be sent to sensitivity training on LGBTQIA-plus matters. She said Gruenhagen labeled the contents "extremely graphic and disturbing" and "sent it anyway."

She said the email was gratuitous and not related to pending legislation. "We can and should express our opinions and educate each other about topics," she said, but added that Gruenhagen's email "demonstrated a deep lack of understanding about LGBTQIA+ people."

Gruenhagen countered that he was providing information about a bill passed late last April. "We have an obligation and a responsibility to do the research," Gruenhagen said. He said the email linked to an academic, medical video created to train physicians on male to female gender reassignment surgery.

"You had to click twice to get to the videos. You could have hit erase," he said. "What's at stake is whether a member can share information, even if it's explicit, on a bill that's coming before the Senate to vote on?"

The bill, which is now law, provided protections from legal repercussions and extradition orders for transgender people and their families traveling to Minnesota for treatment.