California "gay
panic" bill one step closer to reality

Legislation that would limit the use of the "gay panic" defense in criminal court cases cleared a California legislative committee on Tuesday, moving one step closer to passage. Named the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, the legislation would amend jury instructions to say that the use of societal bias to influence a criminal trial is inconsistent with California public policy, specifically hate-crime laws.

The act, sponsored by gay advocacy group Equality California and introduced by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, passed the assembly public safety committee by a 4-2 vote. "We should not allow criminal defendants to blame their victims," Lieber said. "We prohibit discrimination based on race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation in nearly all areas of public life. Why should we allow killers to use bias and intolerance as a justification for murder?"

The legislation will now go before California's full assembly. The bill is named after a transgender California teen brutally murdered in 2002. In a 2004 trial that was later declared a mistrial, lawyers of the three men accused of attacking and killing Araujo asserted that the defendants "panicked" after learning Araujo was a transgender person. (Advocate.com)