LGBT Bar introduces Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act

The National LGBT Bar Association (LGBT Bar) – the country’s largest organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally legal professionals – last week announced the introduction of the Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2018.

The bill, introduced last week by Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-MA), would do away with the use of the gay and trans “panic” defenses, which use a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity/expression as legal rationale for violent assault and murder. The bill is supported by the American Bar Association, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the American Unity Fund, and Equality California.

A gay and trans “panic” defense is employed when a defendant cites their victim's sexual orientation or gender identity/expression as cause for their violent and even deadly actions. These defenses have a long and dark history. They were used in high profile cases such as the murders of Matthew Shepard, Ahmed Dabarran, and Gwen Araujo, and have been successful in allowing violent offenders to walk free.

“Gay and trans 'panic' defenses have long stood as a symbol of dangerous and outdated thinking," said D’Arcy Kemnitz, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar. "An individual's sexual orientation or gender identity/expression should never justify a violent attack or murder. To say otherwise sends a message to the LGBT community that their lives are inherently less valued. The continued allowance of these defenses is a failure of the justice system."

The LGBT Bar has worked to ban such defenses for over a decade and was instrumental in the passage of the 2013 American Bar Association Resolution calling for an end to this practice in court. Similar legislation passed in California in 2014 and Illinois in 2017. New Jersey, Washington, Washington DC, and Rhode Island currently have similar legislation pending that would protect LGBT victims of violence from discrimination in the courtroom.