The defense has been used to attempt to downgrade charges against defendants who argued that they killed because they were provoked by the disclosure of the victim’s gender identity or sexual orientation. | AP Photo New Jersey takes step toward banning ‘gay panic’ murder defense

TRENTON — New Jersey could soon bar a legal defense tactic in murder cases known as “gay panic,“ under a bill the state Assembly approved on Monday without opposition or debate.

The defense has been used to attempt to downgrade charges against defendants who argued that they killed because they were provoked by the disclosure of the victim’s gender identity or sexual orientation.


According to the American Bar Association, eight states had barred the “gay panic” defense as of July 2019. New York was the most recent to do so, in June, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.

The tactic seeks to exploit a state law that allows for the reduction of a murder charge to manslaughter if the crime is "is committed in the heat of passion resulting from a reasonable provocation."

The bill, NJ A1796 (18R), which the Assembly approved, 73-0, states that “a provocation is not objectively reasonable if it is based on the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the homicide victim’s actual or perceived gender identity or expression, or affectional or sexual orientation, including under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted, non-forcible romantic or sexual advance toward the actor, or if the victim and actor dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship.”

It’s unclear if the “gay panic” defense has ever been used successfully in New Jersey, though according to NJ Advance Media, a Cliffside Park man convicted of murder attempted to use it on appeal in 2011.

The bill was first introduced in late 2014 by former Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D-Bergen), the state’s second openly gay lawmaker, but it did not advance through the legislative process until this year. Gay rights advocates recently began pressuring lawmakers to move the legislation, with Garden State Equality starting an online petition.

The bill, which is now sponsored by Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex), has not yet had a committee hearing in the Senate, where it also must pass to reach Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.