The Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would ban “gay or trans panic” as a legal defense for committing a violent act. The vote was 68 to 2.
“If this were to pass [the state’s Senate too and be signed into law], someone that was on trial would not be able to introduce as a defense, the sexual orientation or gender of the victim,” RI House Judiciary Committee Chairman Cale Keable told the Providence Journal.
“I consider this common-sense legislation,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Kenneth Marshall, told the Journal. “A victim is a victim, and no victim’s life is worth less than another’s because of his or her gender identity or sexuality.”
“The legislation, which now goes to the Senate, would prevent the use of any defense in a trial that claims the perpetrator was either provoked, suffering from diminished mental capacity or attempting self-defense as a result of discovering the victim’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation,” according to a RI General Assembly press release.
The Journal went on to report that:
“The American Bar Association, which includes defense attorneys, has urged states to change laws to de-legitimize this defense, and Rhode Island should join those states that do not allow it to be used to warp justice,″ Marshall said.
While it is somewhat rarely used and has often been rejected by courts, the gay panic defense was used this month in Texas, when a jury recommended only 10 years probation for a man who stabbed his neighbor to death. The former police employee claimed that the killing was self-defense and that he was in a “gay panic” after being hit on by another man.
Although it has never been attempted in Rhode Island, Marshall said, the state should specify that it is an invalid defense to ensure that it remains unused. California and Illinois have adopted similar legislation.
The legislation is supported by the American Bar Association and the Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming and Intersex Support Network of Rhode Island.
