Kennedy and Markey Push For End To "Gay Panic" Defense

We’ve heard it before, and we’ve shaken our collective heads that it can be used as a defense, but maybe now, with the help of Congressman Joseph Kennedy III and Senator Edward Markey, both Democrats, both from Massachusetts, the “Gay Panic Defense” might become a thing of the past.

Kennedy and Markey introduced new legislation this week—the Gay & Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act—that would ban the use of anti-LGBT panic defense from being cited as a legal defense in federal court for murdering someone, or bashing someone, or beating someone.

Kennedy said an admission of committing a violent crime against someone because they’re LGBT “is not a defense, it is a hate crime” and added:

“Legal loopholes written into our laws that seek to justify violent attacks against our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender neighbors should never have existed in the first place.”

Markey agrees, saying a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity “cannot ever excuse violence, and our courtrooms should not be used as chambers of hate”:

“Gay and trans panic legal defenses reflect an irrational fear and bigotry toward the LGBTQ community and corrode the legitimacy of federal prosecutions. These defenses must be prohibited to ensure that all Americans are treated with dignity and humanity in our justice system.”

The “fear” of having a gay man hit on you or finding that the person you’re in a relationship with, or even just casually dating, is transgender, have been used as defenses for murder for decades. The first, well-known case, was that of the two men that murdered Matthew Shepard and used “gay panic” as a defense.

And even in 2018, it goes on; earlier this year, a former police officer in Austin received a ridiculously light sentence for stabbing his neighbor to death by playing the “He hit on me” card.

Now, I ain’t holding my breath for this bill to go through, not with the virulently homophobic, transphobic Congress and White House, but, you know, if even of us—and by that, I mean all of us—vote blue in November, maybe we can get this thing done and never again have to hear someone say they murdered a man because he tried to kiss them; or murdered a person because they found out they were trans. That’s hate, plain and simple, and murder, plain and simple, and this excuse needs to be stopped.

And, while the Gay & Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act would ban the anti-LGBT panic defense in federal courts, it wouldn’t apply to charges brought in state courts.

And so that’s all the more reason to vote blue at the federal level, the state level, the country level and the city level, because we can never, never, count on the GOP or the Bastard-In-Chief to help our community.

We do it by electing those that will, and standing up for our rights, and marching for our rights, even after all these years.

The Washington Blade

Last Night Jospeh Kennedy III Stepped Up

I didn’t see BLOTUS speak because, again, liar, hypocrite, racist, adulterer, anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-LGBTQ, but I did see the Democratic response and that is exactly what we need …. Joseph Kennedy III:

“It would be easy to dismiss the past year as chaos. Partisanship. Politics. But it’s far bigger than that. This administration isn’t just targeting the laws that protect us – they are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection.

But today, ladies and gentlemen, today that promise is being broken but praises our worthiness and decides who makes the cut and who can be bargained away. They’re turning life into a zero-sum game for one to win, another must lose. Where we can guarantee America’s safety if we slash our safety net. Where we can extend health care in Mississippi if we gut it in Massachusetts. We can cut taxes for corporations today if we raise them on families tomorrow. Where we can take care of sick kids if we sacrifice dreamers. We are bombarded with one false choice after another. Coal miners or single moms? Rural communities or inner cities? The coast or the heartland?

As if the mechanic in Pittsburgh, a teacher in Tulsa, and daycare worker in Birmingham are bitter rivals rather than mutual casualties of a system forcefully rigged towards those at the top. As if the parent who lies awake terrified that their transgendered son or daughter will be beaten and bullied at school is any more or less legitimate than a parent whose heart is shattered by a daughter in the grips of an opioid addiction. So here is the answer the Democrats offer tonight. We choose both.

Bullies may land a punch. They might leave a mark. But they have never, not once, in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defense of their future.”

Bravo, sir, bravo. And now get the rest of the party to follow suit, to stop being the anti-_____ and being the pro-America party where we all matter, not just the wealthy and those who choose to sell democracy for a chair in the Oval Office.