UPDATE: Reports Say Suspect to Use So-Called 'Trans Panic Defense' in Jorge Steven López Murder Case
November 18, 2009 by Seth Adam, GLAAD's National News Fellow
http://glaadblog.org/2009/11/18/update-reports-say-suspect-to-use-so-called-%E2%80%98trans-panic-defense%E2%80%99-in-jorge-steven-lopez-murder-case/The Puerto Rico-based newspaper El Nuevo Dia reported on Wednesday that Juan Antonio Martínez Matos – the suspect accused of savagely murdering 19 year-old Jorge Steven López – has used the so-called 'trans panic defense' while in police custody.
The 'gay panic defense' or 'trans panic defense' is a common tactic used by anti-LGBT criminal suspects and implies that LGBT people are legitimate targets for discrimination, abuse and violence. Implying that an openly LGBT victim shares responsibility for being assaulted, or that an attack is justified because of an unwanted romantic or sexual advance often biases criminal and legal investigations.
