2 posts tagged “panic”

Time for "gay panic" to end

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticle...

Angie Zapata's killer claims that he simply "snapped" when he learned the woman he had begun to date was transgender. Thirty-six hours after the revelation, Zapata was dead, the victim of a brutal blunt-force beating with a fire extinguisher. She was 18 years old. The killer never disputed his culpability in the murder itself. The wealth of DNA and other evidence made an innocent plea impossible. Instead, his defense attorneys requested a reduced sentence on the ground that Zapata's gender was, in itself, a "provocation." This legal strategy, often referred to as "gay panic" or, in the case of Angie Zapata, "trans panic," is still depressingly common in American courtrooms. One part temporary insanity and two parts institutionalized bigotry, its very existence precludes the family members, friends and loved ones of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) murder victims the legal remedies others take for granted.

Society's attitudes on LGBT equality have changed, and it is time for the law to catch up. The legal profession must resolve to kill the gay panic legal strategy once and for all.

At its core, the gay panic tactic defines unwanted sexual advances or statements of one's identity from LGBT people as somehow more severe, or "provocative," than similar overtures between straight people. In our culture, most women, even before reaching adulthood, learn how to react to unwanted male attention: We simply say, "No." Our legal system offers no leniency to a woman who reacts violently to a pass from a man, no matter how undesirable she may find the offer.

Furthermore, any similar defense would be inconceivable in relation to other minority populations. Our legal system would not, for example, accept "race panic," as a legal strategy to someone accused of violence against people of color. In fact, the opposite is true. We often administer harsher punishments for violent acts that are directed specifically against other minority groups.

Yet in an LGBT-specific context, and only in this context, a sexual solicitation or a statement of one's gender is equivalent to an attack. Using this maneuver in court means that defense attorneys believe the victim's assertion of his or her orientation or identity is an actual threat. This is the very definition of discrimination.

Police celebrate Stonewall anniversary by raiding gay bar

http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/ft...

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, and Nancy Goldstein has a good piece up explaining how far gays and lesbians have come since then, and how far they have to go. She cites bans on gay marriage, higher poverty rates, lack of health care, and DADT as examples.  Sadly, 40 years after the Stonewall raid that led to riots from gays who were completely fed up with the way the cops targeted gay clubs for harassment, gays and lesbians still have to face police raids of bars based on flimsy excuses that result in police brutality.

Is it a coincidence that the Ft. Worth police chose the anniversary of the Stonewall riots to raid a gay bar called the Rainbow Lounge and arrest 7 people (hospitalizing one, who may have bleeding on the brain, according to the Dallas Voice) for public intoxication?  Did you even know it’s a crime to be drunk in a bar?

Update: Instead of apologizing, the Ft. Worth police department has now issued a press release stating that two patrons made "sexually explicit movements" while a third grabbed the groin of one of the officers.  This "gay panic" defense has been refuted by every witness in the bar, including Todd Camp, a former reporter for the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.  One of the people arrested remains hospitalized with a critical brain injury.

Update: Over a hundred protesters rallied on the steps of the county courthouse to demand an investigation into the conduct of the officers involved in the Rainbow Lounge raid.  Afterwards, many marched up and down Main Street carrying signs.  Another protest is scheduled for next Sunday.

Update: Dan Savage is all over this now.  Not only is his synopsis of the events outstanding, but his readers have drummed up names, phone numbers, emails and mailing addresses for almost everyone involved in any way.  This is also where I learned the Rainbow Lounge Raid has its own Facebook page.

Update: There's so much happening on this front now, I may have to make this be the last update, or I'll never stop writing stuff here.  But Chief Halstead has suspended operations between his department and the TABC until his investigation into the Rainbow Lounge raid is completed.