Of course, COVID-19 looms large across this year’s annual Year in Review issue. From the shocking death toll, to the devastating impact on local businesses, to the cancellation of Pride, coronavirus upended all of our lives. Here are the Blade’s staff picks for the top 10 local news stories of 2020.
DC Bill Banning Gay Panic Defense Named After Transgender, Gay Victims Tue. December 22, 2020 11:08 AM by OnTopMag.com Lawmakers in the District of Columbia have approved a bill that bans the use of the so-called gay and transgender panic defense in criminal trials.
Criminal defendants who use the controversial defense claim that a violent act was triggered by the revelation of a victim s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Washington Blade, the vote, held on December 15, was unanimous. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who had a hand in crafting the legislation, has said that she will sign it into law. Congress also needs to review the proposed legislation.
D.C. Council approves bill banning LGBTQ panic defense
By : Lou Chibbaro Jr. OF THE WASHINGTON BLADE, COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LGBT MEDIA ASSOCIATION December 21, 2020
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ABOVE: D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), photo via Allen’s Facebook page.
The D.C. Council voted unanimously Dec. 15 to give final approval of a bill that bans the use of the so-called gay and transgender panic defense in criminal trials.
A coalition of local LGBTQ advocacy groups that lobbied for the legislation said it is needed to prevent defense attorneys from inappropriately asking juries to find that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression is to blame for a defendant’s criminal act, including murder.
DC Council passes hate crimes omnibus bill, bans gay and trans “panic” defenses
Bill expands types of crimes that can be prosecuted, and allows D.C. s Attorney General to seek civil damages for hate crimes
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Councilmember and Judiciary Chair Charles Allen – Photo: Facebook.
On Tuesday, the D.C. Council unanimously approved a hate crimes omnibus bill that strengthens the District’s ability to protect residents from hate crimes, and bans the use of gay or trans “panic” defense as a justification for a perpetrator’s violent acts.
The bill is known as the “Bella Evangelista and Tony Hunter Panic Defense Prohibition and Hate Crimes Response Amendment Act of 2020.”
Judiciary Committee Chairman Allen’s Landmark Bills are Critical Steps Toward Equity and Justice
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine today applauds the Council’s passage of several important pieces of criminal justice reform and civil rights legislation, including the Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Amendment Act of 2020 and the Bella Evangelista and Tony Hunter Panic Defense Prohibition and Hate Crimes Response Amendment Act of 2020. The Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Amendment Act is a package of justice reforms. It contains the Comprehensive Youth Justice Amendment, which allows judges to review the sentences of people who committed crimes before the age of 25 and have already served at least 15 years in prison. Judges can reduce a long sentence if they find that an individual is no longer a danger to the community. The Bella Evangelista and Tony Hunter Panic Defense Prohibition and Hate Crimes Response Amendment Act reforms the District’s hate crime