Legalized LGBT Murder

In all but two states, murder suspects can use "gay panic" and "trans panic" as valid defenses when on trial. And sometimes it works.

For instance, if a gay man comes on verbally to a straight man, the latter could try to use a "gay panic" defense if he murders the gay man.

The idea here is that a straight man is allegedly be so traumatized by the way a gay man interacted with him that he had no other choice than to kill him.

California successfully banned this defense several years ago. Illinois legislators recently approved a similar measure and the governor will soon sign into law.

Other states, however, recently failed to pass legislation like this -- for instance, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

This is indefensible. Murder is murder. A man would not be allowed to claim a "sexual panic" defense if he killed a woman who aggressively flirted with him, so there's utterly no valid reason a different standard should apply if the victim happens to be LGBT.