2. Gay Panic Defense Could Be On Its Way Out
3. Equality On Trial: Can You Get Away With Murder By Claiming ‘Gay Panic?’
It is hard to believe that in 2013, people can still get up on the witness stand and say that ‘gay panic’ or ‘trans panic’ caused them to do bodily harm to an LGBT individual- and actually get away with it. Yep, you heard that right. It is still perfectly legal to say that a person’s LGBT identity was so offensive to you, that it incited so much fear and hatred in the moment, that you can-literally- get away with murder. In fact, some of the most famous anti- LGBT hate crimes have occurred, and this defense was used, causing the criminals to get reduced sentences as a result of said defense.
Perhaps the most famous case of this is that of Matthew Shephard, the young man who was famously murdered
