Gay panic defense - Definition and Overview

This article is about "gay panic" or "homosexual panic" as a legal defense against violent crimes. For information about the mental disorder, see homosexual panic.

Gay Panic Defense is a term used to describe a legal defense against certain crimes. Specifically, when a person claims to have committed a violent crime, attack, assault or murder against a person of the same sex or gender because they allege that the person made romantic or sexual propositions, it is called "gay panic". The defense is usually unsuccessful in winning acquittals, but it is often successful at reducing culpability and mitigating punishments.

The rationale behind the argument is that a non-homosexual person can become so offended or outraged by a sexual or romantic interest that is perceived to be homosexual that he or she is driven temporarily insane and commits an act that would not otherwise be of his or her character (such as murder). The defense is often criticized.

The defense is occasionally used in the United States of America, especially in Southern states, where disapproval of homosexuality is very common. It is believed by some that this defense's effectiveness is boosted by widespread social fear and disapproval of homosexuality. The gay panic defense is also occasionally used in cases of violence against transgender or transsexual persons, especially transwomen.

This defense was used in the famous case against the murderers of gay bashing victim Matthew Shepard. The two accused claimed that Shepard propositioned them, and they were enraged to the point of murdering him. The use of the defense was successful in securing a conviction of Aaron James McKinney for second-degree rather than first-degree murder, but its use offended many residents of Laramie, Wyoming, where the crime took place.