Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American politician and physician serving as the 73rd Governor of Virginia since January 13, 2018. A pediatric neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1984 to 1992. Northam, a member of the Democratic Party, served as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018 prior to winning the governorship against Republican nominee Ed Gillespie in the 2017 election.
Virginia bans LGBTQ+ panic defence
Virginia has become the 12th US state to ban the so-called LGBTQ+ ‘panic defence’ after governor Ralph Northam recently signed a House Bill 2132 into law.
The law states: “Another person’s actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation” cannot be used as legal justification in a murder or assault case.
Virginia now joins a handful of states including California, Nevada, New York and North Carolina where panic defence no longer has any legal standing.
Gov. NorthamThe National LGBT Bar Association said the legal use of panic defence “implies that LGBTQ+ lives are worth less than others…By fully or partially acquitting the perpetrators of crimes against LGBTQ+ victims.” The bill to ban the defence was first introduced.
