Pa. should ban ‘gay panic’ murder defense
An accused murderer could defend criminal acts because they felt threatened by someone’s sexual orientation.
With good reason, defendants in murder and manslaughter cases have a limited number of defenses to excuse their deadly actions. They include self-defense, and, in some cases, the claim that they were legally insane when they committed the crime.
But in Pennsylvania, with one glaring exception, you don’t get a pass for killing someone simply because of their race, ethnicity, religion or some other fundamental component of their character or genetic make-up.
Pennsylvania, however, remains in the shameful company of states where criminal defendants can deploy what’s known as the “gay and trans-panic” defense when they stand accused of taking the life of another human being.
Sadly, the defense is legal in all but three states, as the online news site BillyPenn reports. Fortunately, state Sen. Larry Farnese, DPhiladelphia, is looking to change that.
Last week, Farnese began soliciting his Senate colleagues for their support of yet-to-be introduced legislation that would ban the defense, arguing that the LGBTQ community is “facing an unprecedented rise in hate crimes.”
Citing data compiled by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, Farnese said hate- and violence-related homicides of LGBTQ and HIV-affected people increased by 29 percent between 2016 and 2017.
According to the Williams Institute at UCLA, the defense is usually employed in one of three ways: that they were provoked by a victim’s sexual or gender orientation, to support a theory of diminished capacity or insanity, or self-defense
If you’re not convinced the defense actually works, consider the 2008 case of California teen Brandon McInerney, who shot and killed a 15-yearold classmate who occasionally wore makeup and high heels to class.
As Vice News reports, citing reports by the Los Angeles Times, McInerney allegedly teased his classmate for weeks and promised “to get a gun and shoot him.”
McInerney invoked the defense at trial, arguing that he felt “threatened” by his classmate. Instead of potentially going to jail for life, he accepted a guilty plea that got him 21 years in jail, Vice reported.
Six years later, in 2014, California became the first state to ban the defense.
Lawmakers in Illinois and Rhode Island later followed suit by enacting their own bans. Other states, including New Jersey and Washington, are considering similar bans, Farnese wrote in his ‘Dear Colleague’ memo.
There’s a similar push to end the defense in the federal judicial system as well, with U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, both Democrats, leading the push.
In 2015, Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Schlossberg, DLehigh, introduced his own version of the bill.
But it died in committee without ever coming to a vote.
The push to end the gay panic defense comes even as state lawmakers again try to ban workplace, housing and public accommodation discrimination for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians.
In 2018, when LGBTQ Americans work, worship and play alongside us, and have won the right to marry as heterosexual Americans have, it’s unconscionable that they do not have the same rights and protections enshrined in law as the rest of us.
It’s an offense against decency that an accused murderer could try to excuse away their appalling acts merely because they felt threatened by someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Lawmakers will have only a handful of voting days available to them when they return to session in the fall.
They should give Farnese’s proposal every consideration and send them to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature.
Pennsylvania remains in the shameful company of states where defendants can use the “gay and trans-panic” defense when they stand accused of taking the life of another human being.