In 2020, Lee published a follow-up paper, “ The Trans Panic Defense Revisited, ” in the George Washington University Law Review. There, she argued that “gay panic arguments are problematic because they reinforce and promote negative stereotypes about gay men as sexual deviants and sexual predators,” as well that they “capitalize on an unconscious bias in favor of heterosexuality, which is prevalent in today’s heterocentric society.” In 2008, professor Cynthia Lee published a paper, “ The Gay Panic Defense, ” in the George Washington University Law Review Journal. By fully or partially acquitting the perpetrators of crimes against LGBTQ+ victims, this defense implies that LGBTQ+ lives are worth less than others.”Ĭountless legal scholars have come out against the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense. When a perpetrator uses an LGBTQ+ ‘panic’ defense, they are claiming that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity not only explains - but excuses - a loss of self-control and the subsequent assault. It is not a free-standing defense to criminal liability, but rather a legal tactic used to bolster other defenses. “a legal strategy that asks a jury to find that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity/expression is to blame for a defendant’s violent reaction, including murder. It is absolutely imperative that HB 231 passes into law this year.Īccording to the LGBTQ Bar, the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense is: Unfortunately, like many bills in similar situations, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent quarantine caused the legislature to end early and prevented this bill from passing into law. The bill received almost no opposition and passed through the House of Delegates. Last session, this bill received support from the Baltimore Transgender Alliance, Lambda Legal, Maryland Psychological Association, PFLAG Metro DC, FreeState Justice, LGBTQ Democrats of Montgomerie County, LGBT Bar Association, State Attorney’s Office for the City of Baltimore, Naral Pro-Choice MD, Maryland Office of the Public Defender and the ACLU of Maryland. This bill was introduced previously during the 2020 Maryland General Assembly session as House Bill 488.
“Establishing that the discovery or perception of, or belief about, another person’s race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, whether or not accurate, does not constitute legally adequate provocation to mitigate a killing from the crime of murder to manslaughter or an assault from the crime of assault in the first degree to assault in the second degree or another lesser crime.” Julie Palakovich Carr introduced House Bill 231: