Hooray, no more "panic" defense!!!

I think it's horrible that anyone was ever able to use the "panic" defense to begin with. Nobody should be able to injure or kill a person, and then get off the hook because they "panicked" when finding out the other person was gay or trans*. This is absolutely heinous! Thank goodness, it's just about over:

“There is absolutely no justification for the use of ‘panic defenses.’ Clearly this tactic has been utilized by defendants, unjustly targeting members of the LGBT community, based on damaging stereotypes,” Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla said in a statement Wednesday. “With AB 2501, we are moving forward to ensure equality in our courts and making it very clear that discrimination against the LGBT community is intolerable and unacceptable.”  - advocate.com

Sometimes victories are small, and sometimes they are big. This one is huge!

Related articles

• US: California bill outlawing trans and gay panic defenses headed to governor
• California Takes A Stand Against Gay and Trans Panic Defenses in Criminal Cases
• Ban on 'gay panic defense' heads to governor

:)

Tips for being a transgender ally

Found an interesting article on InfoBarrel giving tips on how to be an ally for transgender people. There are some excellent tips in this article. One of the ones that I would share with my non-transgender is:

Defend them: If you are witnessing discrimination or harassment in the form of transphobia then speak up; don’t just stand there and let it happen. The more people ignore the issue, the more people are going to think that harassing transgender people is an acceptable behavior and therefore keep doing it!

Related articles

• Teen accused of threatening to shoot East Millinocket transgender student
• We don't buy transphobia
• From school to society, the intolerance transgender people face | Jill Filipovic