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# Washington DC to ban LGBTQ+ panic defence
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/washington-dc-to-ban-lgbtq-panic-defense/
- Published: 2020-12-20T11:52:27.000Z
- Updated: 2020-12-20T14:33:03.000Z
- Description: Washington DC is set to become the first city in the US to ban LGBTQ+ panic defense from being used as a legitimate reason for violence against queer people.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ rights, Washington, Washington DC

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/washington-dc-pride-1.jpg)

Washington DC Pride

**Washington DC** is set to become the first city in the **US** to ban LGBTQ+ panic defence from being used as a legitimate reason for violence against queer people, with the city council voting unanimously to do so. LGBTQ+ panic defense uses a person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity to legally justify acts of discrimination and violence against them; although it has been condemned by groups like the **American Bar Association**, 39 states currently allow criminal defendants to exploit the victim’s LGBTQ+ identity to seek a reduced sentence, including the state of Washington. Although it is outlawed in a handful of states, DC would be the first city to ban the practice in a state where panic defense continues to be legal.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/trans-us-rights.jpg)

The bill has now been passed onto city mayor, **Muriel Bowser**, who has stated that she plans to sign it, and then will be subject to a 30-day legislative review by Congress. The DC attorney general, *Karl Racine*, [applauded the council’s decision](https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-applauds-councils-passage-criminal?ref=scenemag.co.uk), [saying](https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-applauds-councils-passage-criminal?ref=scenemag.co.uk) it would *“reduce destructive mass incarceration and advance justice for all”*, adding: *“I look forward to fully enforcing these laws to ensure that the District is a fairer and more just place for all, and to send a clear message that hate has no place here.”*

According to the Washington Blade, the law has been named the Evangelista-Hunter bill after two LGBTQ+ people who lost their lives to anti-queer violence. In 2003, **Bella Evangelista**, a trans woman, was shot to death in DC, and five years later, **Tony Randolph Hunter** was attacked while walking to a gay bar in the city. Both of the perpetrators attempted to use the panic defense after their arrests; the new bill aims to erase the legitimacy of this form of legal justification, and bring greater levels of protection to Washington’s LGBTQ+ community.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gay-rights-1012-1.jpg)