Courts 39 Amerin stat still adm the “gay-panic” fence

Contents:

• THE GAY/TRANS PANIC DEFENSE: WHAT IT IS, AND HOW TO END IT
• COURTS 39 AMERIN STAT STILL ADM THE “GAY-PANIC” FENCE
• THE END OF THE GAY-PANIC LEGAL DEFENSE
• GAY/TRANS PANIC DEFENSE BANS
• S. 1137 (117TH): GAY AND TRANS PANIC DEFENSE PROHIBN ACT OF 2021

THE GAY/TRANS PANIC DEFENSE: WHAT IT IS, AND HOW TO END IT

The gay/trans panic legal fense legimiz and exc vlent and lethal behavr agast members of the LGBTQ+ muny. Over the urse of lbian, gay, or bisexual people's lifetim, one five will experience hate crim, and one four transgenr people will as dividuals at the tersectn of homophobia, transphobia, and racism, face worse statistics. As of July 1, 2019, eight stat have passed legislative bans on the e of gay/trans panic as a legal fense: California, Illois, Rho Island, Nevada, Connecticut, Mae, Hawaii, and New York.

It mt be noted that gay/trans panic is not an affirmative legal fense; is a tactic to strengthen the fense by playg on prejudice. Dpe bunkg "gay panic disorr, " and s removal om the DSM by the Amerin Psychologil Associatn 1973, legal fense teams ntue to e the 1954 murr of William T. Simpson North Miami, FL, the fendants claimed that they shot Simpson, a gay man, while "ristg his advanc, " th utilizg the provotn fense.

Even though the fendants were crimals who equented that area of highway to rob drivers, and tentnally targeted homosexual victims, the fendants were nvicted of manslghter rather than first-gree murr. The fense aga utilized the provotn fense, cg that the nature of the note and Amre's homosexualy was enough to send Schmz to a panic and kill Amre. The gay/trans panic fense has not always been succsful.

COURTS 39 AMERIN STAT STILL ADM THE “GAY-PANIC” FENCE

The gay/trans panic fense was emed admissible, not due to the illegimacy of the gay/trans panic fense, but stead due to Wyomg's statutory sany fense nstct. Currently, there are several other state legislative efforts to ban and nounce the legimacy of the gay/trans panic fense. At the feral level, the Equaly Act, which bans the gay/trans panic fense, has jt been troduced.

Help to end this discrimatn by supportg legislative bans on the gay/trans panic steps you n, and should, take are as follows:Contact legislators and ernors stat currently tryg to ban the gay/trans panic fense. Be sure to reach out to feral legislators as an advote stat where there is currently no proposed gay/trans panic ban your own policians know that equaly unr the law should apply to the victims of hate crim as well. He was also gay.

Mr Miller troduced the “gay-panic” fence urt, argug that at some pot on the night of the murr, Mr Spencer had tried to kiss him. The victim’s apparent homosexualy had ma Mr Miller fearful for his safety and th dimished his rponsibily. The “gay- panic” fence remas legally admissible 39 stat acrdg to the Movement Advancement Project, a thk-tank.

THE END OF THE GAY-PANIC LEGAL DEFENSE

Although attus to homosexualy have changed sce then, the law some plac has fence is “the problem hidg unr the sofa”, says Jason Marsn, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundatn, which lobbi agast hate crim.

Lawyers for Col Fergon, a Jamain immigrant who killed six people on a tra New York 1993, pursued a “black-rage” fence, claimg that a lifetime of racial prejudice had driven Mr Fergon sane (they were unsuccsful) the track rerd of the “gay-panic” fence mak particularly egreg.

His rearch shows that sce the 1970s, gay- and trans-panic fenc have rced murr charg to lser offenc 40% of the roughly 200 s that he has intified. For now, nearly two-thirds of gay Amerins are livg stat where their very existence n be claimed to be a reasonable e for vlence agast them. Daniel Spencer probably did not know this when he ved his neighbour over for an eveng of we-drkg and article appeared the Uned Stat sectn of the prt edn unr the headle "Panic attacks"Uned Stat November 28th 2020Ameri will be the first untry to roll out a vid-19 vacceThe Midwt is Ameri’s vid-19 hotspotJoe Bin unveils a reassurgly faiar natnal-secury teamA book on transng girls is nounced as transphobicCourts 39 Amerin stat still adm the “gay-panic” fenceThe end of the embarrassmentFrom the November 28th 2020 ednDisver stori om this sectn and more the list of ntents Explore the edn.

GAY/TRANS PANIC DEFENSE BANS

On January 21, New Jersey beme the nth state the natn to ban the gay panic fense, a strategy that the ernor said is “rooted homophobia.

Carsten Andren, a crimal jtice scholar, has been buildg a database of murr s that e the gay panic fense. What is the gay panic fense? The offenr the gay panic fense as an exce or jtifitn to try to eva punishment for the crime of murr.

In this stance, the gay panic fense was succsful. Two events put me on a path to rearchg the gay panic fense.

S. 1137 (117TH): GAY AND TRANS PANIC DEFENSE PROHIBN ACT OF 2021

At the nference, my ey opened to the obstacl that the LGBTQ+ muny fac a state like Texas, where there is history of homophobia that ntu to the prent day. A few days after his ath, I learned for the first time that he was gay, and realized that he had lived an almost pletely closeted life. Both of the thgs disquieted me and set the stage for my future rearch on the gay panic fense.

How mon is the gay panic fense? It is also difficult to get rmatn about murrs where offenrs e a gay panic fense urt.

Based on my early analysis, fense attorneys who enter gay panic fens n rce a fendants’ murr charg 32% of the time, even though the majory of the homicis volve credible vlence. Victims who live a closeted gay life are pecially vulnerable. The offenrs the s seemed to take advantage of this “secret” after they were arrted to ultimately nstct a nefar portra of the victims their gay panic fense urt.