tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post2847457590182416949..comments2024-03-20T19:17:02.285-07:00Comments on IN THE NEWS: Don't ban Gay Panic DefenseKaren Franklin, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01032855743077403199noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-9816531682937104162009-11-11T23:56:46.761-08:002009-11-11T23:56:46.761-08:00Basically what Lee is saying here is that we shoul...Basically what Lee is saying here is that we should not try to rid discrimination from our government as long as the law is a reflection of the prejudice of the people. Does this mean that we should sit back and allow people to be victimized because they don't fit into the "social norm"?<br /><br />If a group of people are not seen equally in the eyes of the law, how can people, who see this group treated as different and lesser by their government, learn to view these people as equal to themselves and as part of their own community? <br /><br />Our government speaks not only for the heterosexual people of the nation, but also for the homosexuals, and a majority agreement should not be allowed to silence the voices of the minority for the purpose of perpetuate a moral injustice. As long as there is no "straight panic defense," the gay panic defense emphasizes the division between people of differing sexual orientations and legitimizes the inequality favored by this majority. <br /><br />I prefer equality over discrimination, any day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-24670421506039191092009-08-20T15:08:20.242-07:002009-08-20T15:08:20.242-07:00Well said, Fatima. I have not one grain of sympat...Well said, Fatima. I have not one grain of sympathy for the men who commit such crimes. As a woman, I have had to live my entire adult LIFE subject to occasional unwanted sexual approaches, and if I'd stabbed them all I'd still be in jail now!<br /><br />If, every so often, a man has to find out what every woman in the world has to put up with from the onset of puberty - well, so what? May they learn an important lesson instead of lashing out like cornered animals.<br /><br />As an aside, there's another reason it may be better to have such men off the streets; it's because they are more than likely projecting. There's a reason these terrified straight boys assume that all gay men are sexual predators - it's probably because they are predators themselves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-40825200033037879292009-08-06T16:26:54.738-07:002009-08-06T16:26:54.738-07:00I disagree entirely with Cynthia Lee's argumen...I disagree entirely with Cynthia Lee's arguments. Australian courts abolished the 'Homosexual Advance Defense' as it was called in our country under the law of provocation. Legal protection of homosexual men and women in Australia from law reform saw changes in the social attitudes towards the gay community. Once that reform came into effect, this defense strategy to the charge of murder of homosexual men ceased. <br /><br />It is not acceptable to leave the jury without definitive guidance as to the objective criterion to be applied. The function of the criminal law is to identify and define the relevant criteria. It is not proper to leave the decision to the essentially subjective judgment of the individual jurors who happen to be deciding the case. Such an approach is apt to lead to idiosyncratic and inconsistent decisions. <br /><br />If women were also to put forward a defense of sexual advance, I think the courts would be surely tested :)FpsYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16018044055514649768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-41633202848966041772009-08-05T12:44:01.907-07:002009-08-05T12:44:01.907-07:00"making sure jurors are cognitively aware of ..."making sure jurors are cognitively aware of what exactly is at stake when a gay person is the victim of fatal violence, and the person who killed him claims he did so in response to an unwanted sexual advance."<br /><br />Either it's legal to kill a gay man for an unwanted sexual advance or it isn't. That's what's at stake. I've seen how the gay panic defense has been used in the past, it's a horrible thing for any family member or friend of a gay victim to have to sit through.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com