The law prohibits using a victim’s sexuality or gender identity as justification for criminal action.

The law prohibits using a victim’s sexuality or gender identity as justification for criminal action.

Michigan has outlawed the so-called gay and trans panic defense, which allows criminal defense attorneys to use a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity as a defense argument.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, signed House Bill 4718 into law Tuesday. The legislation states that an individual’s “actual or perceived sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation” is not admissible in a criminal trial to “demonstrate reasonable provocation,” “show that an act was committed in a heat of passion” or “support a defense of reduced mental capacity.”

In a statement shared on Tuesday, the governor’s office said the bill “significantly expands” protections for the LGBTQ community “by protecting them from violent acts of discrimination, prejudice, and hate crimes.”

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      4•1 month ago

      The Air Bud Principle works as a defense horrifyingly often, necessitating new or amended laws to plug the hole. I’d it stupid? Absolutely.

      But most of the law is about technicalities. I mean have you ever read legalese? They speak their own damn language. They also repeat and iterate upon themselves in an endless, recursive loop that necessitates the existence of law libraries.