Whitmer signs law banning gay panic defense

Michigan became the 20th state on Tuesday to bar defendants from using a so-called gay or trans “panic” defense in court.

Gov.

The crush, Jonathan Schmitz, said on the show that he was flattered but as a straight man, not interested.

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According to a 2021 report from the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, no state in the U.S. “recognizes the gay and trans panic defenses as free-standing defenses under their respective penal codes.” Rather, they have been used to support arguments of provocation, diminished capacity, insanity or self-defense.

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Amedure later left a suggestive note on Schmitz’s apartment door.

Schmitz then purchased a shotgun, went to Amedure’s home and shot the man twice in the chest. “And really what this does, in effect, is it closes a loophole to prevent violence against LGBTQ Michiganders, helping to keep more people safe.”

LaRouche noted the governor has already signed laws to expand Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include LGBTQ protections and to outlaw conversion therapy for minors.

Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the LGBTQ+ Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, says there is no specific data on the use of the “gay panic” defense in Michigan.

Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News. Supporters of the bill have said that these defenses play into anti-gay and anti-trans biases and reinforce the belief that LGBTQ lives have less value.

The bill passed the state House along party lines, but four Republicans in the state Senate voted with Democrats to green-light the bill.

But he said the law is needed.

“This makes it clear to judges and to courts that this type of defense where you look at the victim, (that) somehow some characteristic of the victim might provide justification for committing a crime, is no longer acceptable,” he said. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you.

His defense in court was that he was profoundly embarrassed by the public disclosure of the crush.

Schmitz was charged in Oakland County with first-degree murder but convicted by a jury of the lesser offense of second-degree murder. He was released from prison in 2017.

Gov. The crush, Jonathan Schmitz, said on the show that he was flattered but as a straight man, not interested.

Carsten Andresen, an assistant professor of criminal justice at St. Edward’s University in Austin, wrote in 2020 that his early analysis determined that such defenses can reduce a defendant’s murder charges about one-third of the time. But he said the law is needed.

“This makes it clear to judges and to courts that this type of defense where you look at the victim, [that] somehow some characteristic of the victim might provide justification for committing a crime, is no longer acceptable,” he said.

Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill this week that bans the use of what is sometimes called the “gay panic” defense in cases of crimes, particularly violent offenses, against LGBTQ people.

The new law instructs courts that the discovery of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression cannot be used by a defendant to justify a crime.

“This makes Michigan the 20th state to outlaw the panic defense in court,” said Whitmer Press Secretary Stacey LaRouche.

Whitmer signs bill to ban “gay panic” defense in assault cases