‘We’re really circling back to this?’ U.S. city that responded to AIDS catastrophe by banning gay bathhouses is now bringing them back * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh
‘We’re really circling back to this?’ U.S. city that responded to AIDS catastrophe by banning gay bathhouses is now bringing them back
By Bob Unruh
It was some 40 years ago that the AIDS catastrophe struck America, mostly in the homosexual community.
The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome proved a lethal threat, and the response included a decision by the city of Minneapolis to ban gay bathhouses, the scenes of rampant sexual activity.
Now the city is bringing them back.
The Minneapolis City Council recently approved repealing a ban on adult bathhouses, with nine members of a 13-person council endorsing that action.
When the new locations open, “consenting adults can legally engage in sexual activity” there, according to reports. The plan also provides exemptions to existing “indecent conduct laws” so that that activity can happen.
The ban, back in the day, even had the support of Councilman Brian Coyle, the first-known gay Minneapolis city councilor who later died of AIDS-related illnesses.
Bathhouses had been confirmed as hot spots for HIV transmission, and in 1988 there were 447 cases reported to the state.
Coyle explained at the time he was moved to support the ban because of the gravity of the threat for homosexuals engaging in bathhouse behavior.
He said, back then, “I have some people who won’t speak to me. This is one of those tougher issues because it’s so emotionally laden and passionate. It deals with the stuff of life and death. I’ve been taking the flak on it for months.”
Now councilman Jason Chavez proposed the repeal.
“I believe if Brian Coyle was here with us today, with everything we know about public health, he would be standing with us proudly and me on this council,” Chavez claimed.
A report at Lifesitenews said Mayor Jacob Frey hailed the decision as a victory for homosexuals.
“Minneapolis stands with our LGBTQIA+ neighbors – we always will,” Frey wrote on X. “That’s why I’m proud to have stood with members of the City Council and community advocates to sign the Bathhouse Repeal Ordinance and Pride in Policy package into law.”
🇺🇸 Minneapolis just lifted its 1988 ban on sex bathhouses for Pride Month.
The same ban that was put in place during the AIDS crisis to reduce high-risk anonymous sex.
We’re really circling back to this?
Writer: Claudiopic.twitter.com/F8n0uAkgP0
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 29, 2026
Public Health or Public Hazard? Minneapolis Repeals Historic Bathhouse Ban
Minneapolis is officially bringing back commercial sex venues. On June 28, 2026, Mayor Jacob Frey signed off on a 9–2 City Council vote to strike down the city’s 1988 ban on adult bathhouses, which was… pic.twitter.com/Y1LlTYuQGf
— Rich Penkoski (@WFCPreacher) June 29, 2026
The report noted LGBT promoters say they look forward to building new bathhouses and they want taxpayers to help pay for them.
Bob Unruh
Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is currently a news editor for the WND News Center, and also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.
AIDS, Gay bathhouses, Minneapolis
Trading Giant Susquehanna Lost Over $70 Million To Mystery Insider Traders
Trading giant Susquehanna Investment Group said it was attempting to unmask the identities of individuals it claims made at least $100 million trading on inside information about a Chinese government crackdown on cross-border brokerages last month.
The Pennsylvania-based market-maker, which says it was the counterparty on most of the alleged insider trades, sued 100 John Doe defendants in Manhattan federal court on Monday. Susquehanna is seeking to recover more than $70 million it says it lost to what it believes is one of the largest insider-trading schemes in recent memory, Bloomberg reported.
While it’s unusual for a major Wall Street firm to sue as a victim of insider trading - which is normally policed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors - in suing the dozens of unknown traders, aka "John Does", Susquehanna is using a tactic sometimes employed by the SEC to seek information it hopes will identify the alleged insider traders.
According to Susquehanna, many of the trades were made from accounts at Interactive Brokers Group Inc., as well as the platforms of two firms targeted in the Chinese crackdown, Futu Holdings and Up Fintech’s Tiger Brokers (we discussed this in May in "China Launches Crackdown On Cross-Border Stock Selling To Block Capital Outflows").
Susquehanna is seeking an order freezing certain accounts at those brokerages and authorizing subpoenas of them.
Susquehanna, which is one of the largest US market-makers and is active in options, stocks, energy, bonds and foreign exchange markets, said in an SEC filing that its equity positions in the first quarter totaled more than $893 billion. The closely held company based in the Philadelphia suburbs has made its co-founder Jeff Yass one of the richest people in the world with a fortune estimated at $92 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Susquehanna’s allegations focus on 200,000 short-dated put option bets placed in the two weeks before the Chinese government’s May 22 announcement that it would punish firms helping mainland Chinese clients illegally invest overseas. The statement was released by eight regulators, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the central bank and the public security ministry.
Almost simultaneously, regulators released a statement singling out Futu, Tiger and the unlisted Long Bridge Securities for operating in China without onshore licenses. Futu and Up Fintech’s shares plummeted in response.
In its suit, Susquehanna alleges several accounts engaged in a pattern of “high risk, high reward trading” designed to take advantage of the projected drops. In one example, a trader purchased the option to sell Futu shares at $102.45 — down from $124.58 — up to a week after the Chinese government’s announcement.
There was “powerful evidence” the traders were using material non-public information to inform their well-timed bets, Susquehanna alleges. It said the tips could have come from Chinese securities regulators or personnel at Futu or Up Fintech.
The traders collectively purchased $12 million in options, yielding a profit of more than $100 million and a return of more than 900%.
“By way of comparison, Raj Rajaratnam’s infamous insider trading scheme at Galleon Management yielded only approximately $53 million in profits,” Susquehanna said in its complaint, referring to the hedge fund manager convicted in 2011.
According to Bloomberg, the alleged insider traders’ use of Interactive Brokers could prove awkward for that firm. The suit doesn’t accuse Interactive Brokers of wrongdoing, but founder Thomas Peterffy, also one of the world’s richest men with an estimated $104 billion fortune, is an outspoken supporter of legalizing insider trading.
“I’m in favor of not having any rules against insider trading. I would like all the information out there as soon as it’s available,” he said in an recent interview on Bloomberg. “Because look, as a society, we are better off knowing as soon as possible anything that is knowable.”
