I did do a fair bit of research in writing this chapter but my knowledge of the U.S. legal system is limited to what I've seen in media and the time I served on a jury. I apologize in advance for inevitable errors and impossibilities. At times I have taken poetic license (as I always do) but that surely does not excuse many of them.
Content Warning: Homophobic sentiments discussed. No slurs are used.
General Warning: This is going to be a heavy one!
Chapter 16: The Trial of Rick Holtz
The Allen County Courthouse was a beautiful piece of architecture. In 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The sandstone was sumptuous and the domed clock tower soared high above him.
Blaine noticed none of this as he walked into the courthouse on the morning of the trial. He floated as if in a dream down the stone-clad hallways. Kurt's hand in his was the only thing grounding him to the here and now.
The waiting was torture. No one had warned Blaine about the interminable waiting. Yes, they had explained that Blaine wouldn't be allowed into the courtroom until he had given his testimony but somehow he hadn't processed the implications of that.
They had stuck him in some meeting room with a small conference table and a half-dozen chairs. He stared at his history textbook, willing himself to study for his make-up exam. When he realized he had read the same paragraph four times, he called it quits. His brain was incapable of taking in novel information today; it just wasn't possible.
He paced. He listened to music. He read the latest Captain Marvel comic. He paced. He played trash can basketball with pages ripped from his school notebook. He paced. He counted the dots in the ceiling. He flipped through Vogue . He tried to see how far he could lean back in his chair without tipping over.
The door opened and Blaine nearly toppled onto the floor but managed to grab the table just in time. He cleared his throat awkwardly and smoothed his tie.
"Are you ready Blaine?"
No. He nodded.
—
Being a speech-language pathologist was about a lot more than just diagnosing and treating communication disorders. That was the main gig, to be sure, but she had been surprised by the other little things that ended up falling under her job description after she graduated from the University of Iowa with her Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology.
Sure, there were things like being assigned to lunch duty or chaperoning field trips that were just part of being a staff member at her first school. That wasn't what had surprised her. It wasn't even the paperwork, although she had commiserated with her colleagues as the load just kept growing with every year as new regulations were passed. It was out of control.
No, it was the emotional involvement that had surprised her the most. As a graduate student, she worked with her clients for a few months and then moved on to the next assignment. It was barely enough time to properly build rapport let alone develop a strong emotional bond. But as a school SLP who sometimes worked with the same child for 4 or 5 years, she got attached.
Unconditional positive regard. It was one of those terms her professors threw around in graduate school that didn't really hit her until she was out working in the field. She didn't have to love everyone that she treated, but part of her job was finding a way to at least like them—to have some positive regard towards them despite their flaws just as one loves a family member unconditionally. Some children were easy to feel positively about. Blaine Anderson had been one of those children with his bright smile and his beautiful singing voice.
At first, Elise thought she didn't have a big enough heart for the job because some of the children she worked with truly tried her patience. She had called one of her mentors in tears one night, and Elise would never forget what she told her. "Unconditional positive regard isn't a trait, it's a skill that you can hone and deploy as needed. Your job is to actively seek out something to like about each kid. So pull yourself together and figure it out."
Standing at the podium of Courtroom Three, Elise took in the face of the young man who had hated one of her students so much that he had beaten him unconscious. And not just any student: Blaine Anderson. Sure, Blaine wasn't a sweet-faced six-year-old anymore but he had grown into a thoughtful and compassionate person who certainly deserved so much better than what he had been given.
She looked into the eyes of Rick Holtz and she wondered if she had found the limits of her ability to find unconditional positive regard for another person. Knowing what he had done, if he was her student, could she still find a way to like him? She honestly didn't know.
The world would be a much better place if we all had a little bit more unconditional positive regard towards those around us. What was the opposite of unconditional positive regard? Was it just hatred? Was it bigotry or prejudice? Surely, Rick must have had to try to find something to hate about Blaine. Surely, it must have taken some effort. The thought that perhaps it hadn't was the most frightening of all.
"Please state your name and profession for the jury."
"Elise Shine. I'm a, uh, speech-language pathologist."
"And what does a speech-language pathologist do, exactly?"
"We diagnose and treat communication disorders, voice disorders, and feeding and swallowing disorders. We work with newborn babies all the way up to elderly adults. We work in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and private clinics."
"The court has called you as an expert witness to give testimony on the nature of Blaine Anderson's communication disorder, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Let's begin. What is Mr. Anderson's diagnosis?"
"Fluency Disorder. He stutters."
"What is stuttering?"
"A communication disorder wherein the flow of speech is disrupted."
"Does Mr. Anderson's stuttering affect his ability to recall events accurately and clearly?"
"No."
"Does Mr. Anderson's stuttering affect his intelligence, personality, or mental stability?"
"No."
"Please describe Mr. Anderson's typical speech patterns so the jury know what to expect."
Elise took a deep breath, desperately hoping she could remember the key points she had reviewed with the prosecutor the week prior. She didn't want to let Blaine down.
"Well, obviously his speech will sound different than you are used to. He will repeat words and sounds or he may block where no sound comes out at all. But there are some other things you may be less aware are part of stuttering. He may have unnatural silences in his speech, he makes eye contact less than other people, he will use filler words more often—those are words like 'uh' or 'um,'— and he may tend to rephrase or revise his comments.
"Public speaking is very anxiety-provoking for Blaine—again, very common among those who stutter. He will probably seem nervous. He may need to take a break or he may need to write some of his testimony. I believe we have permission from the judge to resort to that if necessary."
"We will have a sidebar in that case," the judge interjected. The defense attorney nodded.
"I would urge you to focus on the meaning of Blaine's words—I'm sorry, I guess I'm a bit nervous too—on Mr. Anderson's words rather than the manner in which they are delivered."
"Thank you, Ms. Shine. No further questions."
"You may cross-examine, counsel."
The defense attorney approached the witness stand. She smiled but it did not reach her eyes.
"Did you say Mr. Anderson may revise his statements?"
"Yes, it's a common characteristic of stuttering."
"So his statement might change as he is giving it?"
"Um, the content is unlikely to really change. It's more about the exact wording. He may substitute for a synonym, things like that. It's actually something that everyone does from time to time but Mr. Anderson does it much more frequently."
"How will the court know what he really means?"
The same way you know what anyone really means. Just listen; it's really not that hard.
"I suppose you'll just have to ask to clarify. Blaine—Mr. Anderson—sometimes chooses to write when verbal communication becomes difficult. Asking him to write the sentence would clear up any confusion."
"You are not just a speech-language pathologist. You are Mr. Anderson's speech-language pathologist, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"And is it not also correct that it is your job to advocate on his behalf?"
"Yes, but—"
"Please answer only the question that was asked, Ms. Shine."
Frustrated, Elise bit her tongue. They were making it sound like she was biased in Blaine's favor or something. She wanted to explain that she was bound to a code of ethics. That she would never lie about the nature of Blaine's disorder. But she wasn't asked that question.
"Moving on," the lawyer continued. "Now the jury has a very important job today as they listen to witness testimony. Their job is to evaluate not only the facts but also the manner in which they are delivered, to determine if the witness is credible. How can they do their job if the witness is so impaired that the usual indicators of deception cannot be depended upon?"
"What?" Elise yelped, before clapping her hand over her mouth.
"Objection," stated the prosecutor.
"Sustained," confirmed the judge. "Please only ask the witness about the topic in which she is an expert. Proceed."
"No further questions."
Elise let out a sigh of relief. All she could do was hope that the jury was open-minded enough not to jump to ill-informed conclusions about the efficacy of Blaine's testimony based on his stuttering.
—
The heavy, wooden door scraped open and a room full of eyes turned to look at him as he entered the courtroom. This is happening. This is really happening. The reality of the moment hit him all at once. Frantically, he scanned the room until he found Kurt's eyes; a blue oasis in this frightening place. Kurt mouthed "I love you" and suddenly Blaine could breathe again. Burt Hummel shot him an encouraging thumbs up.
The bailiff walked him up to the witness stand. He stuttered his way through the oath, blocking something fierce but making it through.
Blaine had felt a bizarre mixture of relief and embarrassment when his parents had offered to pay Ms. Shine to support Blaine during the trial. This was so far beyond her job duties but she reassured Blaine that her supervisor saw no conflict of interest since Ms. Shine would not be providing direct speech therapy services.
The accommodations they had worked out with the judge included allowing Blaine to have a support person with him while he testified. As comforting as Kurt or his mother would have been, Ms. Shine was the only person who could actually coach him through any moments of utter communication breakdown.
She had also been called as an expert witness, which she seemed to regard as an enormous thrill. It was the most animated he had ever seen her. "I had a professor in graduate school who had been an expert witness and ever since then it's been a dream of mine. This is so exciting!"
Apparently, Blaine was such a freak that he needed to be explained to the jury. It was probably for the best that he wasn't able to hear that part. Did he really want to listen to Ms. Shine answer questions about how stuttering didn't mean he was stupid? No, no I do not.
"Please state for the record your full name," Billie directed.
Moment of truth. Time to find out if these articulators are going to cooperate. Deep breath.
"— — —Blaine D-D-Devon Ander-Anderson."
"Thank you, Blaine. Tell me about the night of May 12, 2010."
"There w-w-w- was a—It was the-the-the night of the—of the Sadie Haw-Hawkins dance. I w-w-went with my—with my, uh, uh, uh, my fr-friend—my d-date Nick."
"Blaine, can you clarify for the jury if Nick was your friend or your date? I will remind the jury that per Ms. Shine's testimony, the judge has instructed you not to consider any changes to your testimony to be signs of duplicitous or unreliable testimony but rather a normal part of his stuttering. For clarity, however, Blaine we may ask from time to time for you to confirm your final intended meaning."
"Oh, ssssure. I…it was b-b-both, really. I asked —Nick to go—to go to the…dance with me…but only as-as-as-as-as friends."
"Thank you. Blaine. What happened after the dance was over?"
Blaine made the mistake of looking up. He was suddenly very aware of his audience.
Wide-eyed with panic, he looked pleadingly to Ms. Shine. Looking into his eyes, she slowly inhaled and gestured for him to follow along. It was embarrassing to be doing this in front of so many people so Blaine tried his best to focus only on her face. He closed his eyes, slowing his breathing a little more this time.
"You've got this, Blaine. Nice and easy. Smooth and connected." She smiled at him warmly. I can do this. Nice and easy. Smooth and connected.
"N-N-Nick and I...waited for-for-for...his dad to...pick us u-u-up." I'm doing it! Just keep going. Nice and easy. Smooth and connected.
Blaine fumbled his way through question after question detailing their exact movements and the timing as best he could remember. Describing what had happened got a little bit easier each time he did it. With each repetition, he felt another inch of distance between himself and the worst day of his life. With each repetition, it was one step closer to being a story that he told and not a horror that he re-lived. When he stumbled, Ms. Shine was there to remind him of a strategy that he could be doing or just to smile reassuringly at him with her solid belief that he could do this.
The prosecutor had warned him about how rough cross-examination could be. Billie had even had a private meeting with the defense attorney and the judge to advocate that questions be kept straightforward and as minimal as possible.
Still, he found her questions unnerving.
"Have you ever serenaded the defendant, Blaine?"
What on earth?
"N-n-no."
"Let me rephrase the question. Have you ever sang to the defendant?"
"I…" Did Grace Kelly count? "Not re-re-really to him...but-but-but I...I suppose I sang a-a-a-at him when I, uh, uh, when I went to his...to his house."
"I see. What about in public?"
Blaine's confusion must have been evident on his face because the judge intervened.
"Counsel, please state your question plainly."
"Did you ever sing to the defendant in public?"
"No."
"Have you ever sang in public?"
"I'm in Glee club."
"Please answer the question, Mr. Anderson." His tone was neutral but Blaine couldn't help but feel as if he had been scolded.
"Yes. I...m-m-many times."
"Was the defendant ever present during one of your performances?"
"N-n...oh, I…" we're your weather boys...and have we got news for you "y-y-yes, actually, I...we used to—me and my friends we...we-we-we performed in the—in the —courtyard at school, so, yes he was...he was there."
"Did you ever single the defendant out in your performances?"
"I…" "This song is fucking gay!" "I...y-y-yes, but I didn't—I w-w-w—"
"A 'yes' or 'no' answer will suffice, Mr. Anderson," the lawyer interjected.
It took every ounce of self-control for Blaine to keep his clenched fist from slamming down on the podium. This is so unfair . Yes, he was supposed to only answer the question he was asked without adding extra information or explanations but he just knew that without his stutter he probably could have gotten out a few more words of defense before the lawyer stopped him.
"Do you now or have you ever had a crush on the defendant?"
Pushing down his nausea, Blaine spat out, "N-n-n-never."
Billie stood up. Still the picture of composure, her tone had just the slightest edge to it. "Objection: Relevance."
The defense attorney replied, "Relevant to the state of mind of the defendant at the time of the incident."
Blaine looked to the judge. Please don't let my love life become a matter of public record.
"Overruled. Counsel may proceed with caution, reminded that the witness is a minor."
"Thank you, your Honor. No further questions"
Blaine let out an audible sigh of relief. To his shock, he realized that his hands were shaking as he grasped the edge of the podium on his way off the witness stand.
—
"The defense calls Jeremy Goodwin to the stand."
Billie had asked Blaine if he knew why Jeremy would be called as a witness, but he'd had no idea. Blaine barely even knew Jeremy. He was in Rick's year at Bath and they had been together for Junior High as well, but they had never been friends.
The defense attorney asked some questions to establish Jeremy's relation to Rick, Blaine, and Nick. Then things took an odd turn.
"Have you ever taken gym with Mr. Anderson?"
"Yeah," replied Jeremy.
"So you had to change in the locker room before and after, right?
"Yes, that's correct."
"How did you feel, changing in front of a homosexual?"
"Objection. Relevance."
"Overruled."
Billie looked frustrated.
"How did I feel? I felt scared. I mean there I was, supposed to get naked. What if he tried... something? I used to wait until he left to change; it even made me late to gym a few times."
"Very understandable, Jeremy. Now, was that an unusual reaction? Did your peers share your fears and concerns about sharing the locker room with a homosexual?"
"Oh, yeah, ma'am. All my friends talked about it. Rick changed his schedule once to get out of Anderson's gym period. He was creepy and no one wanted him around except that freak Wesley."
"Let's keep this civil, young man," the judge cautioned.
"Sorry, sir."
Blaine could feel the bile rising in his stomach. When the nausea persisted despite the application of willpower, Blaine jumped to his feet and as quietly as possible made his way to the back of the courtroom.
They had felt threatened by him? The idea was laughable. Those boys had all of the power yet were playing themselves off as the victim.
They were painting him as a predator and the thought made him stick to his stomach. I think I actually might throw up. He quickly made his way to the nearest restroom.
Blaine stood heaving over the toilet bowl for several minutes, but nothing came up. Clammy and embarrassed, Blaine decided to take a walk around the building before returning.
When he re-entered, Rick was already on the stand. When Blaine took his seat, Kurt mouthed, "Are you okay?" Blaine shrugged and nodded. No, but there's nothing you can do right now.
The defense attorney was talking him through the night of the incident.
"How did you feel when you saw them kissing?"
"Terrified! What if someone saw us together and thought I was gay? I just…I was filled with panic."
"Did you feel like you were in danger?"
"Yes."
"So you defended yourself from that danger?"
"Yes."
Is he fucking kidding with this shit?
Billie rose to her feet. "May we see you at sidebar, your Honor?"
"Yes."
In hushed tones, Billie spoke with the defense attorney and the judge. Blaine wished he could hear what they were saying. He glanced over at the jury. Some of them looked bored, while others were watching the conversation on the other side of the room with curiosity.
The judge banged her gavel once to get everyone's attention. "The court will take a fifteen minute recess at this time."
Billie gathered Blaine, Nick, Trent, and their parents in a private room.
"What's going on?" Nick asked.
Billie sighed, looking displeased.
"Rick's lawyer is using a gay panic defense strategy."
"Goddamnit," Blaine's father said angrily.
"Huh?" asked Trent.
Billie frowned. "It's the same defense they used in Matthew Shepard's trial," she explained. "Basically, they're going to make the argument that Holtz was so frightened by your homosexuality that he was provoked to attack. It's basically a temporary insanity defense."
"That's…that's completely nuts!" yelped Nick. "He was threatened? He was scared? He's the one that was bullying us! Calling us names in the hallways. How is that legal?"
"It shouldn't be but unfortunately no state has been able to ban it's use yet. This is exactly what I was worried about when I saw all those character witnesses listed. We're just going to have to hope that the jury is smart enough to see that you kids are the victims here. The judge at least will instruct the jury not to let bias affect their verdict but ultimately it's their decision and bias plays a role in jury decisions all the time, no matter what they're instructed to do."
She let out a sigh. "I did my best to weed out any homophobes during jury selection and I've requested a recess before closing arguments so I can add some additional language in light of this new development. We'll just have to hope that was enough."
Two hours later, Blaine was back in the courtroom, gritting his teeth through the closing arguments. He desperately wanted to be holding onto Kurt's hand, but he was too afraid the jury would notice and hold it against him. Instead, he gripped the edge of the bench. Billie strode up with a confident bounce in her step and faced the twelve individuals who held Blaine's fate in their hands.
"Ladies and gentleman of the jury, Rick Holtz brutally assaulted three young men in the course of a year. You have heard witness testimony to that effect and Mr. Holtz himself does not deny his involvement in these incidents. The defense has tried to convince you that these three teenagers were somehow to blame for their own attacks.. That could not be further from the truth and no matter your personal opinion on the morals of homosexuality, such unprovoked violence against another person is inexcusable and illegal.
"The defense has tried to convince you that a bully was actually the victim. Rick Holtz had no reason to fear these boys. The defendant verbally harassed each of these three boys repeatedly at school, creating an unsafe learning environment. Blaine Anderson, Nick Duval, and Trent Barnes did not ask for nor did they deserve the violence and humiliation that was wrest upon them by Mr. Holtz.
"Lima, Ohio is not an easy place to grow up gay. The very facts of this case prove that it was these three boys who were the only ones in danger. They are the ones who were assaulted, not Mr. Holtz. Mr. Holtz was never in any danger from these young men, whose minority status already put them at risk. There was no provocation for these attacks and furthermore the State asks that these attacks be prosecuted as hate crimes, due to the clear anti-gay motivation for both incidents. The prosecution rests."
Blaine leaned back in his chair, a bit stunned. I think I've met Wonder Woman.
—
"How do you think it went?" Trent asked Billie nervously.
Billie handed out small plastic water bottles to the group that had gathered to wait while the jury deliberated. Blaine eagerly downed the entire thing in two big gulps. Billie raised her eyebrows at him silently before handing him another, with a gentle smile. He accepted it blushingly.
"I think we laid out a strong case. I'm unhappy that we did not get a clearer picture of the defense's strategy before the trial began, but it was one of the outcomes I had prepped for so in the end it didn't really set me back. The jury is always the unknown factor so it's hard to say anything definitive other than that we did our best to lay out the strongest possible case."
"How, um, um, um, um—does it usually t-t-take a long time for the, uh, the-the-the jury to decide?"
"We could get a verdict in twenty minutes or in two days. My best guess, though, would be a couple of hours. You guys can go hang out in town if want, get some fresh air. Just keep your phones on and don't get too far from the courthouse."
"Shall we?" Kurt asked.
Blaine considered his proposition for a moment. He didn't really feel like going anywhere—or indeed moving—but he had already had to wait for an unknown period of time in this room and he didn't particularly fancy a repeat of the experience, even if this time he wasn't alone.
"I'll buy you ice cream from that place you love. I think it's just down the road from here."
Blaine surprised himself by grinning. "That would be...p-p-perfect."
They walked in silence to the ice cream parlor. Kurt checked that his phone ringer was on and turned up all the way at least three times in the two and a half blocks they walked to the ice cream parlor.
Once they were out of sight of the court house, Blaine slipped his hand into Kurt's and gave it a squeeze. Their eyes met and Kurt beamed at him.
They ordered their frozen treats and chose a small booth tucked away in the back, where they felt comfortable enough to sit together on the same side of the booth.
Kurt intertwined their fingers and then leaned over to kiss each of Blaine's fingers one by one. A shiver of delight ran down his spine. It made him feel unexpectedly cherished.
"Blaine?"
"Hmm?"
"I just…" Blaine looked up to meet Kurt's gaze. His blue eyes were shining brightly. "I have to tell you how incredibly proud of you I am. No matter how this turns out, what you did today took so much bravery. It was hard to watch at times but even so...I was just sitting there thinking, 'That's my boyfriend up there.' You just...you're incredible and I hope that you know that."
Blaine had to blink back tears.
"I d-d-d—thank you, I d-d-don't know if I could have—could have done this with-with-without you. You make me feel —brave. You make me w-w-w-want to be better...to be the-the-the best version of myself and...I-I-I feel like with you...I can be."
"Oh, Blaine...and here I was telling myself I wouldn't cry." Kurt stopped to wipe a tear from his cheek. "I never had a chance, though, did I?" Kurt looked over at him, taking Blaine's other hand in his and gazing deeply into his eyes. "You're the bravest person that I know."
—
Blaine, Kurt, and Nick insisted on being driven straight to McKinley after the verdict was read.
Their friends were gathered for what was ostensibly Glee Club rehearsal but Blaine couldn't help but notice that no one was singing when they walked in the door. Instead, they were crowded around a laptop and Puck was practically shouting, "Refresh the page! Come on, they've got to announce it soon!"
"Uh, hello?" Blaine said hesitantly.
A sea of heads popped up in unison.
"You're back!" shrieked Rachel as she hurled herself at Kurt and Blaine. Blaine grunted as he was pulled rather violently into a bone-crushing group hug. She is small but mighty.
"So? Don't leave us hanging, guys, what happened?" Finn demanded.
"We would tell you if we could breathe," Kurt retorted.
Rachel finally released them.
Blaine looked over at Nick, unsure who wanted to do the talking.
"Together, I think," Nick suggested. Blaine nodded.
Blaine counted down on his fingers. Three…two…one…
"We did it!" they chorused together.
"Hells yes!" shouted Santana.
"That's what I'm talking about!" said Puck, pumping his fist in the air. I didn't even know he cared.
"Congratulations, boys. How do you feel?" asked Mr. Schuester.
"Happy. Re-re-re-relieved. Prob-b-b-bably exhausted once the a-a-adrenaline wears off."
"Can you stay for rehearsal?"
"No, Mr. Anderson is waiting in the car. He insisted on taking us all out for a celebratory dinner and I doubt we can concentrate on anything anyways," Kurt explained apologetically.
Rachel pouted. "Fine, but you have to stay for a few more minutes because we prepared a little something for your return. Please, take a seat."
She settled the boys in seats on the risers while the rest of the Glee Club assembled in the center of the choir room.
They prepared something? For us?
The thunder and lightning gave voice to the night;
the little lame child cried aloud in her fright. .
"Hush, little baby, a story I'll tell,
of a love that has vanquished the powers of hell.
Alleluia, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly!
Alleluia, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly!
To his embarrassment, Blaine almost immediately felt tears stinging his eyes. He was just so grateful to have this room of people that had become like a family to him. Knowing that they had been thinking of him while he had been going through hell was incredibly touching.
Sweetness in the air, and justice on the wind,
laughter in the house where the mourners had been.
The deaf shall have music, the blind have new eyes,
the standards of death taken down by surprise.
Alleluia, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly!
Alleluia, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly!
It's over. It's really over.
Blaine really did feel like he could fly.
Thank you to my amazing beta reader, BlurglesmurfKlaine. You, like red bull, give me wings and make me feel like I can fly!
Music Notes
The Great Storm is Over - Bob Franke
Accommodations in the Courtroom
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), public spaces and services are required to provide "reasonable accommodations" for individuals with disabilities so they can access those places and services. This includes court rooms. Having a support person with you and being allowed to write down testimony were on some lists of possible accommodations that I found.
Esperanto's Speech Trivia Corner
1) The University of Iowa is currently the #1 ranked graduate program for speech-language pathology (U.S. News and World Report) so Ms. Shine knows her shit.
2) I really did have a professor in graduate school who provided expert testimony in a murder trial.
The LGBTQ+ Panic Defense [in the U.S.]
I was originally inspired to include this after listening to Episode 129 of the excellent podcast "Criminal," but much of my follow-up research came from the LGBT Bar (see their website for more info). I'm going to quote them heavily in the information below.
What is the LGBTQ+ Panic Defense?
"The LGBTQ+ panic defense strategy is a legal strategy that asks a jury to find that a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity/expression is to blame for a defendant's violent reaction, including murder. It is not a free-standing defense to criminal liability, but rather a legal tactic used to bolster other defenses. When a perpetrator uses an LGBTQ+ panic defense, they are claiming that a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity not only explains—but excuses—a loss of self-control and the subsequent assault. By fully or partially acquitting the perpetrators of crimes against LGBTQ+ victims, this defense implies that LGBTQ+ lives are worth less than others.
One of the most recognized cases that employed the LGBTQ+ panic defense was that of Matthew Shepard. In 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old college student, was beaten to death by two men. The men attempted to use the LGBTQ+ defense to excuse their actions. Despite widespread public protest, the defense is still being used today."
Is this tactic still legal today?
Yes, except in the following states where it has been banned: California, Illinois, Rhode Island, Nevada, Connecticut, Maine, Hawaii, New York, and New Jersey. A number of other states have introduced legislation.
Does this tactic still work today?
"Juries have acquitted dozens of murderers of their crimes through a defense team's use of an LGBTQ+ panic defense strategy. As recently as April 2018, an LGBTQ+ panic defense was used to mitigate a murder charge."
Can we ban this nation-wide?
"In July of 2018, The Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2018 was introduced by Senator Markey (D-MA) in the United States Senate and by Congressman Kennedy (D-MA) in the United States House of Representatives. The bill was reintroduced in the House and the Senate in June of 2019."
What can I do to help?
"We encourage you to contact both your federal and state representatives to urge them to take action against the heinous LGBTQ+ panic defense strategy."
Is this realistic the way you used it in your story?
Honestly I don't really know. I did some preliminary research but I know very little about legal issues. My impression is that this tactic is used more often for more serious violent crimes like murder or attempted murder; I did not actually read any specific references to assault cases which may because it's not done or because they are lower profile. I wanted to have some kind of angle for the trial and it also seemed like an opportunity to draw attention to an ongoing social justice issue.
Coming Up Next: Kurt tries to fix The Schism.
