II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1721 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit gay and trans panic 

defenses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2019 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SANDERS, 

Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MERKLEY, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit gay 

and trans panic defenses. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gay and Trans Panic 

5 Defense Prohibition Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the American Bar Association has urged the 

9 Federal Government to take legislative action to curVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:05 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1721.IS S1721

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1 tail the availability and effectiveness of the ‘‘gay 

2 panic’’ and ‘‘trans panic’’ defenses, which seek to 

3 partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder 

4 and assault on the grounds that the sexual orienta5 tion or gender identity of the victim is provocation 

6 enough for the violent reaction of the defendant; 

7 (2) gay and trans panic legal defenses, which 

8 continue to be raised in criminal proceedings in Fed9 eral courts across the United States, are surprisingly 

10 long-lived historical artifacts, remnants of a time 

11 when widespread public antipathy was the norm for 

12 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (referred to 

13 in this Act as ‘‘LGBT’’) individuals; 

14 (3) gay and trans panic defenses characterize 

15 sexual orientation and gender identity as objectively 

16 reasonable excuses for loss of self-control, and there17 by illegitimately mitigate the responsibility of a per18 petrator for harm done to LGBT individuals; 

19 (4) gay and trans panic defenses appeal to irra20 tional fears and hatred of LGBT individuals, there21 by undermining the legitimacy of Federal criminal 

22 prosecutions and resulting in unjustifiable acquittals 

23 or sentencing reductions; 

24 (5) the use of gay and trans panic defenses is 

25 entirely incompatible with the express intent of FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:05 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1721.IS S1721

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1 eral law to provide increased protection to victims of 

2 bias-motivated crimes, including crimes committed 

3 against LGBT individuals; 

4 (6) continued use of these anachronistic de5 fenses reinforces and institutionalizes prejudice at 

6 the expense of norms of self-control, tolerance, and 

7 compassion, which the law should encourage, and 

8 marks an egregious lapse in the march of the United 

9 States toward a more just criminal justice system; 

10 and 

11 (7) to end the antiquated notion that LGBT 

12 lives are worth less than others and to reflect mod13 ern understanding of LGBT individuals as equal 

14 citizens under law, gay and trans panic defenses 

15 must end. 

16 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON GAY AND TRANS PANIC DE17 FENSES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 

19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘§ 28. Prohibition on gay and trans panic defenses 

22 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—No nonviolent sexual advance or 

23 perception or belief, even if inaccurate, of the gender, gen24 der identity or expression, or sexual orientation of an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:05 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1721.IS S1721

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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 prohibi4 tion in subsection (a), a court may admit evidence, in ac5 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 fol12 lowing: 

‘‘28. Prohibition on gay and trans panic defenses.’’. 

13 (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 com16 mitted against LGBT individuals that were motivated by 

17 the victim’s gender, gender identity or expression, or sex18 ual orientation. 

Æ 


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