cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/2089998
Archived version: https://archive.ph/X5D30
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230830081318/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66654134
Total exceptions? No. But many states still allow people to get reduced sentences via the gay panic defense for killing LGBTQ people. That, and some politicians are encouraging hate crimes against them with hateful rhetoric about them being “groomers” and whatnot.
But many states still allow people to get reduced sentences via the gay panic defense for killing LGBTQ people.
You say that like it’s explicitly allowed by the state. It isn’t. It’s a legal defense lawyers use in court. Whether or not it’s legitimate is determined by a jury.
You need to learn that whether something is explicit or not doesn’t matter as much as what is happening in effect.
You say that like it’s explicitly allowed by the state.
It is. Keeping it a valid legal defense is a policy choice. Some states banned it, they chose to. Other states have not, they decided not to. That’s politics.
But it’s not a valid legal defense. You cannot ban a lawyer from putting it forward as a legal defense.
