What is gay and trans panic
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What is the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense?
The LGBTQ+ “panic” defense is a legal approach wherein defendants charged with violent crimes weaponize their victim’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity/expression to reduce or evade criminal liability. It is not a freestanding defense to criminal liability. Rather, the defense is a legal tactic that bolsters other defenses, such as insanity, provocation, or self-defense. When a defendant uses the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense, they argue that their violent actions are both explained and excused by their victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. The goal of this move is to employ homophobia and transphobia to persuade a jury into fully or partially acquitting the defendant. Whether or not this appeal to bigotry is successful in court, every time a defendant invokes the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense, they reinforce the dangerous and discredited doctrine that LGBTQ+ lives are worth less than others.
Matthew Shepard’s murder trial is one of the most recognized cases featuring the LGTBQ+ “panic” defense. In 1998, two men brutally beat the 21-year-old college student
Gay and trans panic defenses continue to be used in court cases in many US states
Gay and trans panic defenses first appeared in court cases in the 1960s and continue to be raised in criminal trials today. In these cases, defendants have argued that their violent behavior was a rational response to finding by surprise that the victim was LGBTQ. Currently, 12 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation eliminating the employ of gay and transitioned panic defenses, but the defenses remain available in most states.
A new research by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law examines current explore on violence against LGBTQ people in the U.S. and the use of the gay and gender non-conforming panic defenses over the last six decades. The study also provides model language that states may use to ban the gay and trans panic defenses through legislation. These laws are one way of addressing disproportionate exposure to violence, including interpersonal violence, for LGBTQ people.
“In many cases where the gay and trans panic defenses have been raised, we see that the victim and the defendant had a relationship prior to the homicide or the homicide occurred in the course of a robbery,” sai
Banning the Use of Gay and Transitioned Panic Defenses
When LGBTQ people are killed and the homosexual and trans panic defense is invoked, those fatal acts of violence call to be understood within the broader context of widespread violence that LGBTQ people face in general—starting from an early age—and often from people they know including passionate and dating partners.
LGBTQ people in the U.S. face widespread stigma, discrimination, and violence. Recent media accounts detail an epidemic of hostility against transgender women, particularly transgender women of color; federal data show that a substantial percentage of hate crimes are related to anti-LGBTQ bias; and decades of analyze establish that LGBTQ people are at increased risk of violent victimization. Much of this abuse is hate-based or occurs within the context of a dating or sentimental relationship. Often, abuse against LGBTQ people starts early in their lives, at the hands of family members or other students at school. Violence against LGBTQ people can result in death, and even when victims survive, has lasting effects on their physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being.
LGBTQ people face several barriers to address
Gay And Trans ‘Panic’ Is Still Being Used To Justify Anti-LGBTQ Attacks
When news broke in July 2020 that Memphis firefighter Mack Bond had been shot to death in his car, his colleagues and community were stunned. Bond, 58, had been with the Memphis Fire Department for 21 years and was remembered as a committed public servant.
“Mack faithfully served as a member of this department for over twenty-one years and was a valued member of our MFD family,” Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement at the time. “He will be greatly missed.”
A couple, Carlton Wells and Danielle Mack, were arrested days later in connection with the shooting, and news reports of the arrest detail a grim motive for the killing. According to a local news report, Wells told police that he shot the firefighter multiple times after Bond allegedly propositioned Wells and his girlfriend for sex, making Wells uncomfortable. The area where Bond was shot was famous as a gay cruising area, according to a report in Out Magazine. A grand jury indicted Wells in October 2020 on two charges: second-degree murder and possessing a handgun with a felony conviction. Mack was also indicted on a felony charge of evidence tampering.
Gay and Trans Panic Defense Ban Introduced in Colorado House
Denver, CO -- Today, the Colorado Home of Representatives introduced House Bill 20-1307: Gay Panic Or Transgender Panic Defense with bipartisan back in both chambers from the co-prime sponsors Representative Leslie Herod (D-Denver), Delegate Matt Soper (R-Delta), Senator Jeff Bridges (D-Arapahoe), and Senator Jack Tate (R-Centennial). The gay and trans panic defense is a legal strategy that cites a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity as the causal factor for a defendant’s stormy reaction — including murder. In 2013, the American Prevent Association (ABA) unanimously approved a resolution to urge governments to ban the use of this tactic, which resulted in nine states banning the defense.One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy corporation for lesbian, lgbtq+, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Coloradans, released the obeying statements:
“LGBTQ people should have the release to live their lives without terror of assault and murder, simply for being who they are. Using prejudice to defend an attack on another person should never be an option. We cannot endure to allow forceful offenders to