Illinois to Ban "Gay Panic" Defense

For years, the "gay panic" defense has been used by defendants in American criminal cases to mitigate, and sometimes excuse, attacks on members of the LGBTQ community.

NPR.org reports that Illinois will become the second state, after California, to ban such a defense.

For those of you who don't know, the "gay panic" defense goes like this:

Person A (a homosexual) flirts with person B (a heterosexual). This throws person B into such a blind rage that they attack or even kill person A. Person B will then argue in court that the discovery of person A's sexual orientation provoked the response, and therefore should mitigate their overall culpability.

Similar "trans panic" defenses have also been argued in the courts - in the example above, replace Person A with a transsexual, let the flirting go in either direction, and you get the gist of it.

Yeah, it's bullshit - an excuse by mouth breathing bigots and snowflakes who can't handle the fact that there are people in this world who are different than they are.

It's a slow turn toward full equality, but the tides are turning nonetheless. With the banning of the "gay panic" defense in Illinois, it's two states down, 48 more to go.

Keep it queer my rainbow comrades.

Read the original article online at:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/28/574453009/illinois-to-ban-gay-panic-defense-in-new-year

Image credited to Kamil Krzaczynski and originally found at:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/28/574453009/illinois-to-ban-gay-panic-defense-in-new-year