The gay panic defense is a mitigating circumstance. (And notice, it's a mitigating circumstance. Not summary judgement, like stand-your-ground laws.) And it has been used for centuries to justify violence against gays. Most western nations have abolished it. Here, liberals are little confused by it. It seems to be the only mitigating circumstance that conservatives support here. They don't think mental handicap or insanity would be a mitigating circumstance. But they think gay panic is. So some liberals say, modify, don't repeal it. Because it is still a bargaining tool to use when conservatives say they want to take all the mitigating circumstances off the books.
Fine, but gay people should be allowed a straight panic defense. And it really should be. There are no gay straight bashers. No gay politicians are trying to abolish straight marriage. Gay gunmen don't target straight nightclubs. Straight people have no reason to panic around a gay person, but the opposite is absolutely not true. Between Project 2025 and idiots with more opinions than brain cells attacking a cisgender woman athlete for being transgender, it's a terrifying time to be LGBTQ+ If anyone should have a literal right to panic, it's us.
