Republican behind bill to ‘protect’ girls from trans people arrested for allegedly soliciting minor

Mar 19
Written by Amelia Hansford

A mugshot of Justin Eichorn. (Bloomington police)

Justin Eichorn, a Republican state senator who once said he wanted to “protect” girls and women from transgender people, has been arrested for allegedly soliciting a 17-year-old girl for prostitution.

Minnesota senator Justin Eichorn was arrested on Monday (17 March) by detectives posing online as the teenager.

A local constituent responded to news of his arrest being shared on Bluesky by noting: “In fact, Justin Eichorn (R) was a co-author on this bill attacking trans kids’ rights to participate in sports under the guise of “protecting girls.”

LGBTQ+ Nation confirmed that he is a co-sponsor of S.F. 2531, a bill that would allow anyone to accuse a female athlete in school sports of being transgender. Any player accused of being trans would then have to get a signed physician’s statement to refute the claim.

Eichorn, 40, was reportedly arrested after arranging the meeting in Bloomington, close to downtown Minneapolis. Felony charges are pending, according to officials.

Democrats in Minnesota described the arrest as “deeply disturbing”. The Republican party of Minnesota also called for Eichorn to resign because of the “seriousness” of the charges.

Eichorn was one of the authors of a state bill introduced to classify so-called Trump derangement syndrome as a mental illness. The term is often used by supporters of president Donald Trump to show that his opponents are irrationally obsessed with him.

The Guardian notes that the bill defines the syndrome as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J Trump. Symptoms may include Trump-induced general hysteria, which produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald J. Trump’s behavior.”

The bill garnered national headlines and criticism from the left. State senate majority leader Erin Murphy called it “possibly the worst bill in Minnesota history” and said if it’s a joke, it wastes time and trivializes real mental health issues. If it’s serious, it’s “an affront to free speech and an expression of a dangerous level of loyalty to an authoritarian president”.