The state Senate in Michigan passed a bill Thursday that would ban “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses from being used in court.
The legislation, House Bill 4718, prohibits the legal defense that would partially or completely excuse a person’s crimes, like murder and assault, on the grounds that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender were to blame, the Michigan Advance first reported.
The legislation notes that “evidence of the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of an individual’s actual or perceived sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation” is not admissible to demonstrate “reasonable provocation” or to show that an act was committed in the “heat of passion.”
More than a decade ago, the American Bar Associated told federal and local governments to ban legal defenses that attempt to excuse crimes based on the grounds that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identify “is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction.”
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