AR138

An Assembly Resolution urging Congress to pass the “Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2019.”

Whereas, Historically, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) people have faced disproportionately high rates of violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; and

Whereas, The discovery of someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, even when accompanied by an unwanted, non-violent sexual advance, should never be a reasonable explanation or excuse for violence; and

Whereas, In criminal proceedings, “gay panic defense” and “trans panic defense” is a legal strategy that asks the jury to find that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity/expression is to blame for a defendant’s violent reaction, including murder; and

Whereas, Although gay or trans panic is not a freestanding defense to criminal liability, gay or trans panic arguments are used as grounds for traditional defenses of provocation, self-defense, insanity, or diminished capacity; and

Whereas, Such defenses seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim is provocation enough for the violent reaction of the defendant; and

Whereas, Gay and Trans panic defenses appeal to irrational fears and hatred of the LGBTQ individuals, thereby undermining the legitimacy of criminal prosecutions and resulting in unjustifiable acquittals or sentencing reductions; and

Whereas, While New Jersey became one of the few states to prohibit homicide defendants from claiming gay or trans panic defense by enacting P.L.2019, c.468, much remains to be done at the federal level; and

Whereas, Gay and trans panic defenses, which continue to be raised in criminal proceedings in federal courts across the United States, are remnants of a time when widespread public antipathy was the norm for LGBTQ individuals; and

Whereas, Gay and transgender panic defenses are rooted in homophobia and often used to justify violence against vulnerable populations, and it is fitting and proper for this House to urge the United States Congress to pass the “Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2019”; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This House urges the President and the United States Congress to pass the “Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2019” in order to end LGBTQ panic defenses and to reflect modern understanding of LGBTQ individuals as equal citizens under law.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, and each member of the United States Congress elected from this State.

STATEMENT

LGBTQ people have historically faced disproportionately high rates of violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Although gay or trans panic is not a freestanding defense to criminal liability, gay or trans panic arguments are used as grounds for traditional defenses of provocation, self-defense, insanity, or diminished capacity.

Such defenses seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim is provocation enough for the violent reaction of the defendant. Gay and Trans panic defenses appeal to irrational fears and hatred of the LGBTQ individuals, thereby undermining the legitimacy of criminal prosecutions and resulting in unjustifiable acquittals or sentencing reductions.

Gay and trans panic defenses, which continue to be raised in criminal proceedings in federal courts across the United States, are remnants of a time when widespread public antipathy was the norm for LGBTQ individuals. Gay and transgender panic defenses are rooted in homophobia and often used to justify violence against vulnerable populations, and it is fitting and proper for this House to urge the United States Congress to pass the “Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2019.”