HOMOPHOBIA AND THE “GAY PANIC" DEFENSE
WHAT IS HOMOPHOBIA?
"[A]n irrational fear of and aversion to homosexuality and to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people based on prejudice, similar to racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and sexism. … [H]omophobia manifests itself in the private and public spheres in different forms, such as hate speech and incitement to discrimination, ridicule and verbal, psychological and physical violence, persecution and murder, discrimination in violation of the principle of equality and unjustified and unreasonable limitations of rights, which are often hidden behind justifications based on public order, religious freedom and the right to conscientious objection…" European Parliament
"One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a 'reaction formation' — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled." Richard Ryan and William Ryan
THE “GAY PANIC” DEFENSE (a.k.a. HPD)
"'Gay panic' refers to the situation when a heterosexual man charged with murdering a gay man claims he panicked and killed because the gay man made an unwanted sexual advance upon him." Cynthia Lee, 471
"The persistence of the panic defense in trial practice is indicative of a larger set of social myths about gay men, myths that emerge in The Laramie Project." Charles Casey, 225
"[McKinney's] lawyer, Jason Tangeman, told the jury that Mr. McKinney's 'five-minute emotional rage' against Mr. Shepard followed advances that reminded Mr. McKinney of homosexual abuse he had suffered as a child…" " The judge, Barton R. Voigt, told the lawyers that their effort to demonstrate a panic defense was little more than an attempt to show that their client, Aaron J. McKinney, had suffered temporary insanity or diminished capacity when he admittedly killed the student, Matthew Shepard, by beating him with a pistol in a fit of rage. Neither defense is recognized by Wyoming law." Michael Janofsky, n.p.
"Tangeman's strategy was to use the homosexual panic defense [HPD] to negate the premeditation needed for a jury to find first-degree murder. Proving an excusable or justifiable rage at Shepard's provocation would reduce McKinney's offense to second-degree murder or manslaughter. … Ironically, the murderers of Shepard are now [in a 2004 interview on ABC's 20/20] using the absence of the HPD narrative in seeking the same result—mitigation of their sentences." Charles Casey, 231
Gay panic has recently morphed into another defense strategy called the 'trans panic' defense. In such cases, a male defendant charged with murdering a male-to-female transgender person claims he was provoked into a heat of passion upon discovering that the person with whom he had sexual relations was biologically male rather than female." Cynthia Lee, 513
"[T]he American Bar Association urges federal, state, local and territorial governments to take legislative action to curtail the availability and effectiveness of the 'gay panic' and 'trans panic' defenses, which seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction." American Bar Association, n.p.
"What conclusions might we draw from a system of criminal justice that recognizes such overtures of same-sex attraction as sufficient provocation for justifiable homicide? How does legitimization of such panic complement a religious discourse that understands homosexuality as the potential downfall of civilization …?" Charles Casey, 235-36
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Adams, Henry, Lester Wright Jr. and Bethany Lohr. "Is Homophobia Associated with Homosexual Arousal?" Journal of Abnormal Psychology 105 (Aug 1996): 440-45.
American Bar Association. “Urges action to curtail use of the “gay panic” defense.” Abanow.org. 13 Aug. 2013.
< http://www.abanow.org/2013/06/2013am113a/feed/rss/>.
Bering, Jesse. “Single, Angry, Straight Male Seeks Same.” Scientific American. 30 Jan. 2009.
Casey, Charles. "Panic in The Project: Critical Queer Studies and the Matthew Shepard Murder." Law and Literature 18 (Summer 2006): 225-53.
European Parliament. “Homophobia in Europe.” Europa.eu. 20 Jul. 2006.
Haddock, Vicki. “Gay panic defense in Araujo case.” San Francisco Chronicle. 16 May 2004.
Janofsky, Michael. “Judge Rejects 'Gay Panic' As Defense in Murder Case.” New York Times. 2 Nov. 1999.
Lee, Cynthia. “The Gay Panic Defense.” U C Davis Law Review. 42.2 (2008): 471-566.
Ryan, Richard, and William Ryan. “Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay.” New York Times. 27 Apr. 2012
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Homophobia & the "Gay Panic" Defense | Documentary Theatre | The Laramie Project: Analysis & Critical Commentary |
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