The American Bar Association has passed a resolution calling on states to pass laws curtailing the use of “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses in criminal cases.
At its annual meeting, the ABA’s House of Delegates unanimously passed the measure, which describes the panic defenses as efforts “to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction.”
The resolution puts the ABA on record for ending the panic defenses. Defendants in such high-profile cases as the murders of Matthew Shepard and Gwen Araujo have used the defenses as a kind of justification for their violence.
The resolution says that the laws should specify “that neither a non-violent sexual advance, nor the discovery of a person’s sex or gender identity” can be used as an excuse for a physical attack. The laws should also require courts to instruct juries not to let any bias influence their deliberations.
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Speaking to the House of Delegates, D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the National LGBT Bar Association, described the defenses as “surprisingly long-lived historical artifacts” that represent “the notion that LGBT lives are worth less than other lives.”
Charli Girl
LIMIT? Really? If I shouted str8 panic as a defense,I’d be in court EVERY FREAKING DAY!!!
P I S S E D!!!
qlm
@Charli Girl: Did you read the article? Or do you believe that the “Gay Panic” excuse is ok?
Cyn
It’s about time, because it’s a blatant case of discrimination for equal protection under the law.
I’m female. Don’t run into lesbian panic too often. However, most women are familiar with being touched by an uninvited male in a sexually possessive fashion against their will. It is illegal for me to commit assault or kill him for his unwanted attentions. Not that many straight men would call the police on a woman who say, slams her elbow into his solar plexus, making him gasp for breath for several minutes in the middle of a bar, or say drives her stiletto into his instep, making him scream and hop around at a Christmas party, or say, bend his pinky finger back till it made a very satisfying snap and stayed that way on a theater parking lot as the bus was disembarking. And no one called the cops. And both cases are quite clearly assault, for which women often receive much stiffer sentences than men do, even when being sexually harassed. Beating a guy up for touching your boob or your ass or even your crotch is against the law.
My point is, gay men are not out trolling for straight men, but accidents do happen. A polite no should be plenty for anyone. Don’t take no for an answer, oh well, but I do believe that’s rare for whatever gender identification.
So Charli Girl, you are actually right, if overstating the every day a bit.
hyhybt
The underlying idea is that the victim’s being gay/trans excuses any violence done against him/her. It’s completely absurd, and it’s amazing courts have put up with it this long.
samuel1chandel
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abnerbha
When I read a gay (transexuals are mutilated gays/lesbians and they must abolish sex changes) bashing case in the news, I wonder what the view is of the journalist reporting this on homosexuality/lesbianism. I also wonder if the journalist is a homosexual or lesbian and if so, are they setting aside their bias and reporting the news with no problems. I do not trust news that I get from Daily Kos or the Huffington Post on their coverage of gay bashing cases because they predictably make the homosexual look like an innocent victim no matter what wrong the gay does.
Even the pro-gay websites Huffington Post & Queerty admit that gays, lesbians & transexuals (mutilated gays/lesbians) are more likely to be drug junkies as you can see these 3 links http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-do-gay-men-do-crystal-meth_us_5704023ee4b083f5c60929b5 https://www.queerty.com/whats-behind-the-enduring-allure-of-crystal-meth-for-gay-men-20160405 & https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160201/west-village/meth-is-overlooked-problem-transgender-gay-communities-experts
What the Huffington Post & Queerty links omit are violent crimes gays, lesbians & transexuals commit while high on drugs.
-If the gay (some cases lesbian) is high on drugs such as cocaine & or meth while committing indecent exposure, stalking, etc., then the homosexual can commit a more violent crime incl. murder in a drug rage after committing indecent exposure. Stalking, indecent exposure, etc. may not be the only crime which the homosexual intends esp. if he is high on drugs. Think you know that when gays & lesbians commit sex abuse, the first thing they do is commit indecent exposure, grab a person’s genitals against will before doing something more violent.
I would rather have a case where a jury decides if a man’s reaction to bashing or killing a homosexual is justified or excess vs. the man doesn’t do enough and the gay does something worse. Most men and boys who are victims of gays usu. won’t call cops to report that a gay is committing indecent exposure, harassment or in worst cases molestation until some1 reacts violently and bashes the gay.
snowfallisfun
For posters who say that if a homosexual (some cases lesbian) commits crimes such as stalking, indecent exposure, assault & battery (touching a person’s genitals against will is assault & battery or forceplay), etc. that the man should allow the abuse are apologists for molestation because that is what a would be molester wants the victim to do before doing a more violent attack. First again-stalking, harassment, indecent exposure, assault & battery (forceplay), etc. are crimes just by themselves. But they can easily worsen to something more violent.
Posters must be honest & say that they think if a gay or some cases lesbian commits a crime such as indecent exposure, stalking, etc. that you don’t think a man should have a right to defend himself against this crime. Though you know this & posters talk with forked tongue, here are some things you know but omit, as these cases are unpredictable.
-If a gay grabs a man’s butt, groin, etc. against will, the homosexual is committing assault & battery or forceplay even if people use mild words such as unwanted….. If a homosexual man is trying to commit a more serious crime such as pedophilia, the first things a gay does is that assault & battery or forceplay. It’s same way that if a man is going to rape a woman, the 1st things he does are grab a woman’s boobs, butt, etc. against will or forceplay. If a homosexual wants to commit molestation-Stalking, indecent exposure, assault & battery or forceplay, etc. are often the first crimes a homosexual does before he molests.
-If the gay (some cases lesbian) is high on drugs such as cocaine & or meth while committing indecent exposure, stalking, etc., then the homosexual can commit a more violent crime incl. murder in a drug rage after committing indecent exposure. Stalking, indecent exposure, etc. may not be the only crime which the homosexual intends esp. if he is high on drugs. Think you know that when gays & lesbians commit sex abuse, the first thing they do is commit indecent exposure, grab a person’s genitals against will before doing something more violent. You’re offended by a man defending himself if a homosexual commits indecent exposure, etc.
Proposing (straight or gay) in your house, singles bar or @ a private party is in most cases legal. The right thing to do is say no and leave. If a man is a guest in a gay man’s house and the gay man proposes, the right thing to do is say no and leave because it is the gay man’s house and the gay man did not commit a crime when he did the proposal so the right thing to do is leave the house. However, repeatedly proposing after some1 has said no is criminal harassment.
If gay man repeatedly proposes such as follow the man around after no has been said, then the homosexual is committing criminal stalking and the man has a right to end this abuse. If a homosexual is going to commit indecent exposure, then it’s a crime and there is no need for a man to say no to a crime the homosexual had no right to do. & there is no need for a man to say no to a homosexual who is proposing to him in a public restroom because public restroom is not a house or a bar and it’s illegal to ask others for sex in public restroom. Public restroom is the place to use toilet and wash up not a place for sex.
Again if it’s true homosexual committed indecent exposure, harassment, stalking, etc. before men reacted violently, then the fact the homosexual committed a crime before he was bashed must be decided by jury in deciding if gay basher(s) used reasonable or excess force. I would rather have a case where a jury decides if a man’s reaction to bashing or killing a homosexual is justified or excess vs. the man doesn’t do enough and the gay does something worse. Most men and boys who are victims of gays usu. won’t call cops to report that a gay is committing indecent exposure, harassment or in worst cases molestation until some1 reacts violently and bashes the gay.
snowfallisfun
@Charli Girl: @Cyn:
Cyn, you’re womenopausal (menopausal) crone and too old for most men to want. Comment sometimes people make is that if a man makes ‘unwanted ….’ to a woman, should she have a right to attack or kill a man& or that women don’t have a right to make this defense. When this comment is made I wonder if the person believe this or do they say this knowing it’s false hoping that if it’s repeated many times unchallenged that it’s believed? There are many cases where women have attacked or killed men & in their trials used the defense that the man was abusing the woman, when in a few cases it was the opposite.
Jodi Ann Arias stalked her boyfriend and 1 day she murdered him by stabbing him to death and cutting his throat. During the murder trial, Jodi Ann Arias said that her boyfriend abused her when she abused her boyfriend. Travis Victor Alexander did nothing wrong other than be involved with Jodi Ann Arias a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder and in the end that got him murdered & during the murder trial, he is accused of abusing her when it’s other way round. & long before Jodi Ann Arias met Travis V. Alexander, she had a violent history going back years such as Jodi Ann Arias kicking a dog when she was a teenager. & there were defense witnesses who said what they knew is false for money. They didn’t care what the facts were, they just saw a chance to make $ by testifying by making the victim look like the abuser when it’s other way round.
Another thing to say with gay bashings is that when there’s a case of a 16 year old boy who bashes or kills a 34 year old gay man, must wonder if the 34 year old gay man was a victim of unprovoked attack or was the 34 year old gay man committing a crime such as harassing the 16 year old boy before the boy reacted violently? Most boys who are victims of gay pedophiles are too shy to talk about this. Most men and boys who are victims of gays usu. won’t call cops to report that a gay is committing indecent exposure, harassment or in worst cases molestation until some1 reacts violently and bashes the gay. Again if it’s true homosexual committed indecent exposure, harassment, stalking, etc. before men reacted violently, then the fact the homosexual committed a crime before he was bashed must be decided by jury in deciding if gay basher(s) used reasonable or excess force.