The "Gay Panic" Defense
By Jerry Walch, 15th Jul 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutNewsCrime
Do you want to know how to get away with cold-blooded, premeditated murder in Queensland, Australia? Have you heard of the “Gay Panic” Defense? Pleading the “Gay Panic” Defense is an even better defense than pleading Temporary Insanity. A loophole in Queensland law allows people accused of murder to defend themselves in court by claiming “gay panic” -- that is, if someone who they think is gay “comes onto” them, the sheer panic that they feel is partial justification for murder.
- The “Gay Panic” Defense became “Case Law” in 1997.
- Is there really such a thing as “Gay Panic”?
- The gay panic defense is a classic tactic.
- I am no psychologist or psychiatrist.
- Promotes hate crimes.
- References:
The “Gay Panic” Defense became “Case Law” in 1997.
In 1997 a man murdered a man in Queensland, Australia who he thought was gay. The murderer testified under oath that the man had come on to him, flirted with him in a sexual manner. He told the judge and the court, “Yeah, I killed him, but he did worse to me.” The court agreed with him and the “Gay Panic” Defense entered Case Law status. The “Gay Panic” Defense remains on the Law Books in Queensland as a viable defense to this very day. As recently as 2010, a man murdered a gay man in a church yard, plead the “Gay Panic” Defense, and was acquitted of the murder charge. Almost all of the other Australian States have expunged the “Gay Panic” Defense from their Law Books, but it remains on the Law Books in Queensland. A relatively recent study has shown that Queensland is the most homophobic state of all the Australian States. Seventy-three percent of all gay and lesbian living in Queensland are subjected to verbal abuse or physical violence for their sexual orientation and the perpetrators get away with it without so much as a slap on the wrist.
Is there really such a thing as “Gay Panic”?
The gay panic defense is a legal defense against charges of assault or murder. A defendant using the gay panic defense claims that he or she acted in a state of violent temporary insanity because of a little-known psychiatric condition called homosexual panic. “Homosexual Panic” is a term that was first used by psychiatrist Edward J. Kempf in 1920, describing an acute, brief reactive psychosis suffered by the target of unwanted homosexual advances. Despite the psychotic nature of the disorder, Kempf called it "acute homosexual panic". The disorder is also known in Kempf's honor as "Kempf's disease".
The gay panic defense is a classic tactic.
The gay panic defense is a classic tactic when defending an indefensible crime: blame the victim, especially if that victim is gay. That is the way a Ventura County Star reporter described it in a 2011 article. Lawyers pleading their clients out under the “Gay Panic Defense” claim that no heterosexual man can possibly be expected to maintain his sanity when confronted with a same-sex advance. That is what the attorney for 17-year old Brandon McInerney used to defend him against a murder charge in 2008 after he shot and killed his 15-year old classmate, Lawrence King. What did King do to provoke McInerney to bring a gun to school and shoot him dead...he had asked McInerney to be his Valentine. Twenty-four hours had passed between the time King asked McInerney to be his Valentine and the time McInerney brought a gun into his classroom at Oxnard's E.O. Green Junior High School and shot King in the back of the head. They never denied the McInerney shot King in the back of the head, what they did was claim that McInerney did it "in the heat of passion caused by the intense emotional state between these two boys at school." Heat of passion that lasted 24-hours, now that is one for “The Ginnis Book of Records” or maybe “Ripley's Believe It or Not.” The same defense was used to explain away the brutalization of gay patrons during a 2009 police raid of a Fort Worth, Texas, bar. Golly, Gee, I had always thought that the police were trained to remain calm, rational, and objective under stress.
I am no lawyer but there is a very interesting article, The Gay Panic Defense, in the Law Review of the University of California at Davis, by Cynthia Lee. It is a rather long—most law journal articles, like medical journal articles, are very long—but it is an article well worth reading. I have placed a link to it in the reference section of this article.
I am no psychologist or psychiatrist.
Although I minored in psychology back in the day—my major was applied electrical engineering—I am far from being a psychologist of any stripe. I do vaguely recall reading about Edward J. Kempf and "Kempf's disease" in the literature but it remained deeply buried in my mind until I started researching this article. I have spent many years in the military and have been around many homosexuals—both gay men and lesbians. During my days of basic training and later tech school where we all lived in barracks holding eighty men or more, it was not uncommon to have a gay man come on to a heterosexual man in the showers—the showers were large affairs holding 15 to 20 men at a time. Advances were rebuffed, but no straight guy ever reacted to those approaches by bashing a gay guys head in against the shower's tiled walls. I do not think that any heterosexual male would react in such an extreme manner unless he had doubts about his own masculinity, unless he harbored desires to find out what it would be like to get it on with another guy, but could not admit to himself that he was having those feelings, those thoughts.
Promotes hate crimes.
Keeping such a law on the books does nothing but promote hate crimes. Some people passionate hate anyone that is different than they are and would love to beat them up or even kill them if they knew they could get away with it. In the case of beating up and even killing gays in Queensland, Australia, the “Gay Panic” Defense is their “Get Out of Jail Free Card.”
References:
Kaplan, H.I. et al. ed. (1980), Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry, third edition Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore – London.
Chuang HT, Addington D. (Oct 1988). "Homosexual panic: a review of its concept". Can J Psychiatry. 33 (7): 613–7. PMID 3197016.
The Gay Panic Defense
Comments
15th Jul 2012 (#)
My goodness. It's hard to believe that a defense like this could sway a jury. There must be a lot of people out there who think like our lady friend. Great post, my friend.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
You are or were reading my mind, Good Buddy. This should make her happy.
They have kicked it out in all the Australian States except Queensland and the new Queensland Attorney General has found no fault with it.
Thanks for moderating, reading, and commenting my friend.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
Jerry Great article and I am truly amazed that in a country like Australia this allowed to happen. I think more People should read this article with your permission I will send it over to Twitter Etc. By the way coincidentally I majored in electrical engineering many years ago. Don't use it much now though
Best Wishes
Steve
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
By all means, Steve, promote to your heart's content.
I received my engineering degree back in the 1960s while in the Air Force. I still use it in the sence that I write construction, operational, and maintenance manuals for the electronics industry, which is what really pays the bills around here.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Steve.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
My word, you learn something new every day, brilliant article Jerry
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
Yes, Johnny, you have mirrored my thoughts perfectly. I'm truly surprised at how much of this stuff that i was really unaware of until that "Lady Friend" that Steve and I share, pi--ed me off enough to start digging. Now that I have started to actively look for these kinds of stories, I have a supply of them that is great enough to keep me writing these exposes for the next twenty years.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Johnny.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
Despite the strong argument against the gay panic defense that has bias against heterosexual orientation and despite the view that it is very tough to argue with the gay panic defense, I am amazed how it is still in force in Queens Land, Australia, since 1997.I am also at a loss though a considerable number of gay and lesbians are living in or remain concentrated in Queensland, why the gay people have not taken any step to strike down this biased defense.Thanks for sharing a very interesting article.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
Steps are being taken on their behalf by, believe it or not, a Catholic Priest and a Rabbi who have petitions circulating to get the law removed from the books.
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16th Jul 2012 (#)
Thank you Jerry.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
oh dear..a great page Jerry but a little sad for me to read too...
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
I found it equally sad to research, Cn. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
"Modern" countries with blatantly unfair and unarguably ignorant laws...I'm afraid that on examination, one would find an assortment of them in the US and UK as well.
Great article, Jerry. We must be cautious, though, to not see the larger issue(s) ones unique to Australia.
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15th Jul 2012 (#)
David, that same defense has been tried, under different names, in the United State, the UK, New Zealand and many other countries, but the courts found it flawed and have refused to accept it as a defense for assault and murder. As far as there being other ignorant laws to be found in the UK and the US, I would be the last one to deny that...I haven't singled Australia out. I also agree there might be other larger issues unique to Australia, but I fail to see how that relates to the subject of this article.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
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16th Jul 2012 (#)
Interesting indeed, Jerry. Some can really get way with murder! siva
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16th Jul 2012 (#)
Thanks for reading and commenting, Siva.
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16th Jul 2012 (#)
There are certainly some interesting psychological defences for murder around the world. I am sure they would fill a good sized book.
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16th Jul 2012 (#)
Right you are Peter. There are more articles simmering on the back burner.
Thanks for reading and for commenting.
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16th Jul 2012 (#)
Unbelievable. If taken to extreme this type of thing could be used to excuse murder at any time, and of any one.
Yikes, the kid terrified me, so I killed him.
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16th Jul 2012 (#)
The closing line, "Yikes, the kid terrified me, so I killed him". would have been prophetic if it had been written a few months ago because that is just what happened in Florida with Trayon Martin being the victim. His murderer wasn't even going to be charged until after the petition we started on Change.Org that garnered 2,276,128 signature demanding that he be charged with murder.
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21st Jul 2012 (#)
Another reason for murder...kill someone because they came onto him....
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