Culture and Social Issues

One Of USA Today’s ‘Women Of The Year’ Is A Man Who Dismissed Child Sex Abuse Allegations Against Local Nonprofit

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USA Today has awarded one of its “Women of the Year” awards to a biological male who recently testified that the sexual assault of a minor was “irrelevant” to deciding whether to fund a government-sponsored project.

Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Leigh Finke was nominated as one of USA Today’s “Women of the Year” on Friday, according to USA Today. Finke is Minnesota’s first transgender legislator.

Finke’s nomination comes the same day Finke publicly testified that the sexual abuse allegations against a minor were not relevant factors when deciding to continue funding a nonprofit. Specifically, Finke was “embarrassed,” “upset” and “angry” that a previous lawsuit against a central community organizer for Indigenous environmental group Honor the Earth was brought up in deciding whether to keep funding Honor the Earth.

Michael Dahl, former central organizer for Honor the Earth, was accused of pedophilia in 2015 after a group of women confronted founder and co-executive director of Honor the Earth, Winona LaDuke, according to the Washington Free Beacon. LaDuke said that Dahl “probably did have sex” with the 15-year-old in question in the 1990s, according to court records.

“This is not what we should have been talking about,” Finke said during a Legacy Finance Committee Meeting in Minnesota.

When Finke was asked by USA Today how the representative overcame the pressure of being a transgender representative, Finke said, “I think about what we’re doing for our children’s sake, for the next generation, for 30 years from now.”

Finke’s office and USA Today did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.