Michigan bans 'gay and trans panic' defense as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs historic bill (exclusive)

Michigan has officially banned the "LGBTQ+ panic" defense following Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's signature on the historic piece of legislation.

HB 4718 prohibits using the "sexual orientation or gender identity of a victim as a defense to a crime." The bill recently passed the state House of Representatives in a narrow 56 to 54 vote, making it through the state Senate by a larger margin of 24 to 14, with two Republican joining Democrats in support. Whitmer signed the bill into law Tuesday, saying: "No one should fear violence because of their sexuality or gender identity."

"Since I took office, we expanded the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to cover the LGBTQ+ community, established the Michigan LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, and banned conversion therapy for minors," Whitmer told The Advocate. "Our work is not done as we continue to make progress and move Michigan forward. I look forward to reviewing the legislation and continuing to work alongside the LGBTQ+ community to ensure justice."

The so-called "gay panic" defense has been used "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," according to the American Bar Association. Only nineteen states and Washington D.C. now prohibit the "gay panic" — or "gay and trans panic" — defense, according to the Movement Advancement Project, with Michigan being the most recent.

While "no state recognizes gay and trans panic defenses as freestanding defenses under their respective penal codes," according to research by the Williams Institute, defendants have used panic defenses alongside other strategies to reduce their charges or sentencing.

The bill was introduced by out State Representative Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat and current speaker pro tempore of the Michigan House of Representatives, who told Michigan Public that she was motivated to propose the legislation by the 1998 murder of gay teenager Matthew Shepard.

"I wanted to introduce this bill because I was a young queer person when Matt Shepard was murdered, and it was the first time, although I was not out yet, that I realized, 'Oh, this could be very dangerous for me,'" she said, adding, "At its core, the defense asserts that crimes against the LGBTQ community carry less weight because we are inherently less human and therefore less valuable."