Michigan House passes ban on "gay-trans panic defense" along party lines
by Rachel Louise Just | Sinclair Broadcast Group I Thu, October 19th 2023, 6:47 PM EDT
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan lawmakers have taken one of the first steps toward banning a legal strategy known as the "gay-trans panic defense," with the Michigan House approving a bill Thursday prohibiting the defense.
The "gay-trans panic" legal defense allows a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity to be used as a justification for why a defendant violently attacked their victim.
LGBTQ+ and human rights advocates have long sought to ban the strategy in Michigan, one of 33 states where it remains legal, according to House Speaker Pro Tempore Laurie Pohutsky.
"It's usually used in conjunction with other defenses as a way to play on unfortunate prejudices in an effort to lead to lighter sentences," Pohutsky, D-Livonia, said. "The root of the matter, the whole defense is based in the thought that trans and LGBTQ folks are less human than other victims, which is why it's so important to ban the use of the defense."
The legal approach is used when a heterosexual person kills or injures a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and the defendant justifies their actions by claiming they had a violent reaction to the LGBTQ+ person making a sexual advance. That "unwanted sexual advance" can sometimes look as simple as asking the person on a date or engaging in a mutually-consenting sexual act.
"I think a lot of people don't realize that it's a problem, but I think that's because they don't realize how vulnerable the community has been up until recently," said Pohutsky, who is an openly bisexual woman.
Those who support banning the defense said it is used primarily in cases where the victims are some of the most vulnerable Michiganders.
"These days it is used very widely during assaultive crimes against the trans community, primarily, Black, trans women," said Pohutsky.
That description — being Black, trans, and Hispanic — fits Julisa Abad. Knowing her community is often victimized, Abad has dedicated her time to fighting for victims and the rights of her fellow trans women in metro Detroit.
Julisa Abad has dedicated herself to helping fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community, and is an advocate of banning the "gay-trans panic defense." (Courtesy: Julisa Abad)
Black men especially, Abad says, have been shamed into being violent toward trans women, some of whom the men may have had repeated sexual encounters with before attacking them and using the trans panic defense.
"African-American men rather love us in private and kill us in public than have anyone know of their association with trans women," said Abad, who serves as the Director of Transgender Outreach and Advocacy at the nonprofit foundation Fair Michigan. "It happens all the time, but it also happens because of the lack of education and how we villainize people as a community for being enamored with trans women."
A new bill sponsored by Pohutsky, House Bill 4718, would ban the legal strategy outright, with the bill text stating the defense is "not objectively reasonable provocation" to commit a crime against the LGBTQ+ community.
Advocates say the prejudices behind the defense have already cost lives.
"The first problem we hit when trying to find someone to talk about [their experience with the defense] is that most of the victims are dead," Pohutsky said.
Of the cases that Fair Michigan has prosecuted, Abad said, in the cases where the gay-trans panic defense was used "the horrificness [sic] of the assault is way more." She said often the defense is used when trans sex workers are targeted with attacks.
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That has not stopped advocates like Abad from pursuing justice.
"All I can honestly say is I'm going to continue to live the good fight," Abad said in a phone interview squeezed between visits with members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Michigan's House voted along party lines, 56-53, on Thursday to pass HB 4718.
"I hope days like today help people feel protected and cared for and seen in this state," Pohutsky said.
All House Republicans present voted against the bill, with Republicans declining to speak about their 'no' votes. Pohutsky said she had talked with Republicans sympathetic to the cause, but had been unable to convince them to vote 'yes.'
"Even folks who agree that we should not be assaulting and murdering LGBTQ people still have a hard time voting in a way that validates the humanity of trans folks," she said.
HB 4718 now heads to the Michigan Senate, where Pohutsky says she is hoping to get it voted on as soon as possible.
