Delaware poised to become 17th state to ban LGBTQ panic defense
It was an extraordinary week in the Delaware Senate, as a bill to ban the LGBTQ+ panic defense, in which a defendant claims they panicked and killed or injured a victim upon finding out the person was gay or transgender and receive a lesser sentence or even acquittal because of it, passed unanimously.
Every senator, Republican and Democrat, voted for it Wednesday. And every Republican – and Democratic – senator signed up to co-sponsor the bill. “Thank you to my colleagues and my friends.
That is a beautiful statement,” bill sponsor Sen. Sarah McBride said on the Senate floor after the senators signed up. “Other states, this has fortunately been bipartisan, and I’m incredibly proud that we will make clear that this is a bipartisan issue.” Mark Purpura, a Delaware lawyer who worked on the bill, watched as the bill passed from his home via Zoom. “It was very moving,” he said. “It moved me to tears.
I was crying.” The defense has been used five times in Delaware, according to research by St. Edward’s University professor W.
