Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed a bill into law earlier this week making Oregon the fourteenth state to bar defendants accused of violent crimes from using their victims’ sexual orientation or gender identity to argue for a more lenient sentence.
Under the bill’s provisions, defendants accused of second-degree murder cannot argue they were “under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance” upon learning of a victim’s LGBTQ identity.
State Rep. Karin Power (D-Milwaukie), the House sponsor of the bill, said it would “send a strong message” that perpetrators will not be able to “excuse the crime simply based on who their victim is,” reports The Register-Guard.
California was the first state to ban the use of the so-called “panic defense” in 2014, with several other Democratic-leaning states following suit.
The District of Columbia also passed a law outlawing the use of LGBTQ panic defenses, but the implementation of the law has stalled due to two factors: 1) not being ready to transmit to Congress until mid-February, and 2) an additional delay in starting the clock on a 60-day congressional review period, due to increased Capitol Hill security — following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building by a mob — that made it difficult to physically deliver bills to the Congress in person.
If no additional objections to the bill are raised within the next few weeks, the 60-day review period is scheduled to end soon, allowing the law to go into effect.
Gay or trans panic defenses have traditionally been employed to argue for a lesser sentence or more leniency by playing on the anti-LGBTQ prejudices of judges or juries.
Such tactics were employed — both successfully and unsuccessfully — in a number of high-profile cases involving LGBTQ murder victims, including Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, Marco McMillan, Gwen Araujo, Angie Zapata, and Islan Nettles.
At least eight other states are considering similar legislation to ban the panic defense, although some defense lawyers object to such bills because they allege it hamstrings their ability to defend their clients if they can’t convince judges or juries that there were extenuating circumstances leading to the crime.
HRC announced Brown had signed the bill into law earlier this week.
🥳 Good news! @OregonGovBrown has signed into law a bill ending the so-called LGBTQ “panic defense.”
The LGBT Bar Association has been one of the chief proponents of bills similar to the one signed by Brown, arguing that allowing defense lawyers to employ the argument to seek a more lenient sentence maintains an “unjust status quo.”
“The LGBTQ+ ‘panic’ defense frequently draws on stigmas particular to LGBTQ+ people, their sexualities, and their genders to justify horrific violence against LGBTQ+ individuals,” the group wrote on its website. “The defense is rooted in homophobia and transphobia.”
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Department of Justice says that the state’s response hotline for bias crimes recorded 287 reports of crimes or incidents against LGBTQ people since January 2020.
The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ advocacy group, notes that anti-LGBTQ violence has risen in recent years, particularly against transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, with 44 being killed in the United States last year — the highest number since the organization began tracking the murders of LGBTQ victims in 2013.
State Rep. Anna Williams (D-Hood River) argued during the House debate on the bill that such a law banning the use of the LGBTQ panic defense is long overdue.
“From a legal standpoint, when the state tells you that the discovery of someone’s gender, whether actual or perceived, or their sexual orientation creates a diminished capacity … the state is telling you that someone else’s life matters less because of who they love or how they express themselves,” Williams said. “I find that very offensive.”
A 16-year-old was sentenced to a juvenile facility until he turns 21 after pleading guilty to five charges related to the October 2024 murder of 39-year-old Bryan Smith, a.k.a. "The Barber," a beloved local DJ, barber, and stylist who died after being robbed in the 500 block of T Street NW.
The youth did not react as D.C. Superior Court Judge James Crowell read the charges -- including robbery, felony murder, and assault -- and told him: "A life was taken and your role in that cannot be erased."
A monument honoring the gay victims of the Nazi regime -- as well as all LGBTQ people who have been persecuted throughout history -- was recently unveiled in Paris.
Designed by French artist Jean-Luc Verna, the monument consists of a massive steel star, dark on one side and reflective silver on the other. It's embedded in the public gardens close to the Bastille Plaza.
Verna, an LGBTQ activist, commented on the monument's color scheme, noting that "there's a black side in front of us, forcing us to remember.... At certain times of the day, it casts a long shadow on the ground, evoking the dangers looming over, sadly."
A masked assailant threw a sharp rock through the front window of a gay couple's home in Northeast D.C., striking one of the men in the head.
The attack occurred last Friday in the city’s Kingman Park neighborhood, just as WorldPride weekend festivities were set to begin.
Surveillance video captured the assault. In the footage, a masked individual approaches the couple’s house -- decorated with rainbow Pride flags in the front yard -- and hurls a rock through the front window before fleeing. A cry can be heard from inside the home.
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