Colorado bans gay or transgender "panic defense"

By: Colette Bordelon

Gov. Jared Polis signed four bills into law on Monday designed to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

The bills included coverage for HIV/AIDS prevention medications, a new process for getting government documents for one's gender identity, and a ban on gay panic or transgender panic defenses.

News5 took a closer look at SB20-221, which bans the use of a gay or transgender panic defense in the courtroom.

"The gay or transgender panic defense is when someone claims that they had a reasonable fear of a person because of their sexual orientation or gender, that made that person somehow predatory, or somehow a person who you should be afraid of. And so, they react with violence, they try to justify that violent reaction based on who the victim is, rather than their words or actions," said Amanda Gall, a sexual assault resource prosecutor with the Colorado District Attorneys' Council.

Some of the bill language states that these kinds of justifications for violent actions appeal to irrational fears and hatred. It goes on to say that legally sanctioned discrimination against sexual orientation or gender identity must end. Gall said the council substantially participated in the writing of this bill. She also said the 22 elected district attorneys are in support of the legislation.

https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-color...courtrooms

Some good news!

Yes, it is. I've heard that defense being used a few times, and wondered how people got away with it.

wow - Jesus Christ i never knew that a "panic defense" was even a thing - so in America you could beat or kill a someone lgbtq without provocation and just give that defense , the world is just full of hatred and only getting worse under the leaders we have right now

(07-17-2020, 07:57 PM)matty7 Wrote: wow - Jesus Christ i never knew that a "panic defense" was even a thing - so in America you could beat or kill a someone lgbtq without provocation and just give that defense , the world is just full of hatred and only getting worse under the leaders we have right now

From Wikipedia:

The gay panic defense is a legal strategy in which a defendant claims they acted in a state of violent, temporary insanity, committing assault or murder, because of unwanted same-sex sexual advances. A defendant may allege to have found the same-sex sexual advances so offensive or frightening that they were provoked into reacting, were acting in self-defense, were of diminished capacity, or were temporarily insane, and that this circumstance is exculpatory or mitigating.

Rooted in both homophobia and transphobia, trans panic is a closely related defense applied in cases of assault, manslaughter, or murder of a transgender individual, with whom the assailant(s) engaged in sexual relations unaware that the victim is transgender until seeing them naked, or further into or after sexual activity.

Broadly, the defenses may be called the gay and trans panic defense or the LGBTQ+ panic defense. They are typically used by heterosexual cisgender men against gay men and trans women.

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We also had the 'twinkie defense' which was coined in the murder of Harvey Milk.


"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression, a symptom of which was a change in diet from healthy food to Twinkies and other sugary foods.

Contrary to common belief, White's attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White's actions, but that their consumption was symptomatic of his underlying depression. The product itself was only mentioned in passing during the trial. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

(07-17-2020, 09:12 PM)CellarDweller Wrote:

(07-17-2020, 07:57 PM)matty7 Wrote: wow - Jesus Christ i never knew that a "panic defense" was even a thing - so in America you could beat or kill a someone lgbtq without provocation and just give that defense , the world is just full of hatred and only getting worse under the leaders we have right now

From Wikipedia:

The gay panic defense is a legal strategy in which a defendant claims they acted in a state of violent, temporary insanity, committing assault or murder, because of unwanted same-sex sexual advances.  A defendant may allege to have found the same-sex sexual advances so offensive or frightening that they were provoked into reacting, were acting in self-defense, were of diminished capacity, or were temporarily insane, and that this circumstance is exculpatory or mitigating.

Rooted in both homophobia and transphobia, trans panic is a closely related defense applied in cases of assault, manslaughter, or murder of a transgender individual, with whom the assailant(s) engaged in sexual relations unaware that the victim is transgender until seeing them naked, or further into or after sexual activity.

Broadly, the defenses may be called the gay and trans panic defense or the LGBTQ+ panic defense.  They are typically used by heterosexual cisgender men against gay men and trans women.

---

We also had the 'twinkie defense' which was coined in the murder of Harvey Milk.


"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression, a symptom of which was a change in diet from healthy food to Twinkies and other sugary foods.

Contrary to common belief, White's attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White's actions, but that their consumption was symptomatic of his underlying depression. The product itself was only mentioned in passing during the trial. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

wow - you have to commend the evil depths of defense lawyers will stoop that that would come up with these justification terms to get their clients off of a hate crime charge - and that very same lawyer goes home to hug the wife and kids,

@"matty7" Yeah some lawyers have literally no soul. Of course it is way beyond lawyers, it's everyone. There is an apparent lack of empathy in the world. I don't know if I am just getting cynical or if the world is just this way or has become this way.