Michigan made the historic decision to ban the ‘gay panic’ legal defense, outlawing the use of someone’s identity to justify attacking or killing them.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 4718 into law Tuesday, joining 20 other states in banning the defense. The legal excuse, also referred to as the ‘homosexual advance defense,’ allows a judge or jury to acquit someone of assault or murder charges if they felt offended by the victim’s gender identity or sexuality. Defendants could argue that a perceived sexual advance from a queer person was so harmful that they were provoked or went temporarily insane.
House Bill 4718‘s sponsor Representative Laurie Pothusky has spent four years pushing for the legislation. She says it is a huge step toward making Michigan a safer place for LGBTQ+ residents.
“I have been incredibly passionate about this bill for several years, and I am elated to see it signed into law,” Pothusky, who is bisexual, said in a statement. “Protecting the future of LGBTQ+ people across Michigan is something I have been working hard to do.”
In 2013, the American Bar Association called on all federal and local governments to throw out the defense. The association cited multiple heinous examples of the defense being used, including a 32-year-old man beating and murdering a transgender teenager with a fire extinguisher in 2008 and a 15-year-old boy who was shot and killed in school by a classmate for being gay in 2011.
In 2020, Professor W. Carsten Andresen, whose research greatly assisted in the ABA, found the ‘gay panic’ defense had been used 104 times across 35 states between 1970 and 2020. While it might not seem like many, Andresen says there are likely many other cases that he has yet to identify.
In his research, Michigan had the sixth highest concentration of cases with 6. Texas had the highest with 16 cases, and has since banned the defense.
“We don’t want people to be able to commit violent acts against them and then get away with it or get a slap on the wrist because of who they assaulted, or in some cases who they murdered,” Rep. Pothusky stated to WILX.
“Making sure that anyone who perpetrates a violent crime against somebody who is a part of the LGBTQ community faces the same penalties and that those victims can face the same level of justice as anyone else is really, really important,” she continued.
