Shall We?

Protect Our LGBTQ+ Youth, Please

     Hello, lovely readers. I'm publishing this message on all of my stories to make you aware of a serious issue in the world. I'm not sure if any of you are aware, but there is a set of defence claims titled the Gay Panic Defense and the Trans Panic Defense. In short, both of these are legal forms of homophobia that can give criminals a way to lower their sentences after committing blatant acts of hatred against those in the LGBTQ+ community. I'm going to go more in-depth with both of these in the following paragraphs, and I ask you to please continue reading.

     "The Gay Panic Defense is a legal strategy in which a defendant claims they acted in a state of violent temporary insanity, committing assault or murder, because of unwanted same-sex sexual advances. Broadly, a defendant may allege to have found the same-sex sexual advances so offensive or frightening that they were provoked into reacting, were acting in self-defence, were of diminished capacity, or were temporarily insane, and that this circumstance is exculpatory or mitigating." (The lgbtbar.org).
     To put it into simpler terms: The Gay Panic Defense is a claim that can be used by a defendant in a court case in which the victim is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. They may claim that their assault or murder of a member of the community was fueled by temporary insanity or self-defence brought on by the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim.
      There are many instances of this being used, and I'm going to input quotes from the above-mentioned site naming a few of them.
      "Larry King, 15, was an openly gay student who expressed himself by wearing makeup, accessories, and high heels. King asked fellow student Brandon McInerney to be his valentine, and McInerney shot King execution-style in the head. McInerney's attorney claimed that his client was sexually harassed by King and therefore, was not culpable for his death. The jury could not reach a unanimous decision and the case was declared a mistrial." This occurred in 2008. Brandom McInerney never served time for the murder.
     "Talk show host Jenny Jones was hosting a show that discussed the topic of secret admirers. Jonathan Schmitz was invited to participate and was surprised and embarrassed to see his male friend, Scott Amedure, confess to having a crush on him. Three days after the show, Schmitz drove to Amedure's home and shot Amadure twice in the heart, killing him. At trial, Schmitz argued that he suffered from diminished capacity due to the "gay panic disorder" he experienced when Amedure revealed his attraction on the Jenny Jones Show, which rendered him unable to plan the killing, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The jury reduced the charge from premeditated murder to second-degree murder." This occurred in 1995. Jonathan Schmitz was released from prison in 2017.

     "Ahmed Dabarran was an Assistant District Attorney in Fulton County, Georgia. He was struck over the head over a dozen times by Roderiqus Reshad Reed and died from his injuries. At trial, Reed's attorney claimed that Reed killed Dabarran to protect himself from unwanted sexual advances. However, a medical examiner testified that Dabarran was asleep at the time of the murder. The jury acquitted Reed of the murder despite Reed's full confession." This occurred in 2001. Roderiqus Reshad Reed never served time for the murder.

     "The Trans Panic Defense is a similar defence applied in cases of assault, manslaughter, or murder of an individual, with whom the assailant(s) engaged in sexual relations unaware that the victim is transgender until seeing them naked, or further into or after sexual activity. As the trans panic defence may be due to in addition to, the defence may also be called the gay and trans panic defence or the LGBTQ+ panic defence."
     Again, to put this into simpler terms: The Trans Panic Defense is very similar to the Gay Panic Defence, but it specifies those who are transgender (meaning that they identify as a gender other than that assigned to them at birth). If a defendant is having sex or things similar with someone who is trans and they're not made aware of the person's transition, they can claim temporary insanity or self-defence after murdering or attacking them. There are a few instances of this being used, and I will be quoting one below:
     "Islan Nettles was beaten to death in Harlem. The killer, James Dixon, was not indicted until March 2015, despite turning himself in three days after the attack and confessing that he had flown into "a blind fury" when he realized that Nettles was a transgender woman. Dixon pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter at his indictment. Dixon was not charged with murder, which would have required proof of intent, nor was he charged with a hate crime. During his confession, Dixon said that his friends had mocked him for flirting with Nettles, not realizing that she was transgender. Furthermore, in an incident a few days prior to the beating, his friends had teased him after he flirted with two transgender women while he was doing pull-ups on scaffolding at 138th Street and Eighth Avenue. Dixon pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 12 years' imprisonment, a sentence that Nettles' mother felt was too lenient." This occurred on August 17th, 2013. James Dixon only received 12 years of prison time for his sentence and wasn't charged with murder or a hate crime.

     These are only a handful of cases that have used this claim to lower their sentences or even escape from any jail time at all. These two defence claims are only illegal in the following U.S states:

California - 2014Illinois - 2017Rhode Island - 2018Nevada - 2019Connecticut - 2019Maine - 2019Hawaii - 2019New York - 2019

 I encourage you to visit this website in order to learn more about the defences and how we can help remove them. This website also has links to find ways to contact your senator, the president of the U.S, your state representative, and others. I have already contacted all three of the above mentioned, and I asked that you do as well. 
lgbtbar.org/programs/advocacy/gay-trans-panic-defense/

We're the future of this country, and it's up to us to make it safe.