Wednesday, August 30, 2017

We Need This Here!

People will probably say we don’t need this here,
Illinois becomes second state to ban ‘panic defense’ as excuse for killing LGBT people
LGBTQ Nation
By Jeff Taylor
August 29, 2017

Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill into law on Friday banning the gay panic and trans panic defense in murder cases, making Illinois the second state to do so, after California.

The law prevents people in the state from claiming the murder victim was gay or bisexual and made a sexual advance that caused them to react violently, or that the victim’s gender identity caused the same.

The American Bar Association has come out against the gay and trans panic defense, and urged local, state, and federal governments to pass legislation banning it.

Rauner also signed a bill into law making it easier for transgender and intersex individuals to change the gender marker on their birth certificate.
[…]
“‘Gay panic’ and ‘trans panic’ defenses rely on anti-LGBT bias and reinforce it, perpetuating a vicious cycle of violence against our communities,” Clark added. “LGBT people, especially transgender women of color, are more likely to be victims of violent crime. We look to courts for justice, not to put victims on trial. We hope that other states will take Illinois’ example and do the same.”
Now is the time to pass this law here in Connecticut!

Not after someone gets off scot-free for murdering a trans person or a gay or a lesbian by claiming that the person that killed one of us panicked when they found out that were trans. We have to stop that defense before it happens.

But not only do we have to ban the panic defense for us but also for all the other protected classes, so that somebody can’t use the defense of “I freaked out when I found out that she was a Muslim!” or  “I freaked out when I found out that she was a black!”

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