Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2629 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit gay and trans panic defenses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 16, 2021 Mr. PAPPAS (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. KILMER, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CRIST, Mr. CARSON, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. BASS, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. COSTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit gay and trans panic defenses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gay and Trans Panic 4 Defense Prohibition Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2629.IH H2629 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2629 IH (1) the American Bar Association has urged the 1 Federal Government to take legislative action to cur- 2 tail the availability and effectiveness of the ‘‘gay 3 panic’’ and ‘‘trans panic’’ defenses, which seek to 4 partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder 5 and assault on the grounds that the sexual orienta- 6 tion or gender identity of the victim is provocation 7 enough for the violent reaction of the defendant; 8 (2) gay and trans panic legal defenses, which 9 continue to be raised in criminal proceedings in Fed- 10 eral courts across the United States, are surprisingly 11 long-lived historical artifacts, remnants of a time 12 when widespread public antipathy was the norm for 13 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (re- 14 ferred to in this Act as ‘‘LGBTQ’’) individuals; 15 (3) gay and trans panic defenses characterize 16 sexual orientation and gender identity as objectively 17 reasonable excuses for loss of self-control, and there- 18 by illegitimately mitigate the responsibility of a per- 19 petrator for harm done to LGBTQ individuals; 20 (4) gay and trans panic defenses appeal to irra- 21 tional fears and hatred of LGBTQ individuals, 22 thereby undermining the legitimacy of Federal crimi- 23 nal prosecutions and resulting in unjustifiable ac- 24 quittals or sentencing reductions; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2629.IH H2629 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2629 IH (5) the use of gay and trans panic defenses is 1 entirely incompatible with the express intent of Fed- 2 eral law to provide increased protection to victims of 3 bias-motivated crimes, including crimes committed 4 against LGBTQ individuals; 5 (6) continued use of these anachronistic de- 6 fenses reinforces and institutionalizes prejudice at 7 the expense of norms of self-control, tolerance, and 8 compassion, which the law should encourage, and 9 marks an egregious lapse in the march of the United 10 States toward a more just criminal justice system; 11 and 12 (7) to end the antiquated notion that LGBTQ 13 lives are worth less than others and to reflect mod- 14 ern understanding of LGBTQ individuals as equal 15 citizens under law, gay and trans panic defenses 16 must end. 17 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON GAY AND TRANS PANIC DE- 18 FENSES. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘§ 28. Prohibition on gay and trans panic defenses 23 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—No nonviolent sexual advance or 24 perception or belief, even if inaccurate, of the gender, gen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2629.IH H2629 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2629 IH der identity or expression, or sexual orientation of an indi- 1 vidual may be used to excuse or justify the conduct of an 2 individual or mitigate the severity of an offense. 3 ‘‘(b) PAST TRAUMA.—Notwithstanding the prohibi- 4 tion in subsection (a), a court may admit evidence, in ac- 5 cordance with the Federal Rules of Evidence, of prior 6 trauma to the defendant for the purpose of excusing or 7 justifying the conduct of the defendant or mitigating the 8 severity of an offense.’’. 9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 10 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 18, United 11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘28. Prohibition on gay and trans panic defenses.’’. (c) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall submit to 14 Congress an annual report that details prosecutions in 15 Federal court involving capital and noncapital crimes com- 16 mitted against LGBTQ individuals that were motivated by 17 the victim’s gender, gender identity or expression, or sex- 18 ual orientation. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2629.IH H2629 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS