Governor Andrew Cuomo takes to Pride Parade to sign bill banning ‘gay panic’ defense in New York courtrooms – after defendants argued their crimes against LGBTQ people were prompted by their victim’s sexuality
- Governor Andrew Cuomo was front and center at New York’s WorldPride Parade on Sunday
- The 61-year-old signed a bill officially ending the ‘gay and trans panic defense’ in legal cases
- New York becomes the sixth state in the US to outlaw the common courtroom tactic
- Later, the Governor met with Pride revelers outside Manhattan’s Stonewall Inn
- More than three million people are estimated to have descended upon New York City to celebrate WorldPride
New York has become the sixth state to outlaw the ‘gay and trans panic’ defense in murder cases.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law on Sunday at WorldPride in Manhattan – anticipated to be the largest pride parade in New York City’s history.
Hundreds cheered as Cuomo, 61, scribbled his signature on Bill A2707 before he told the assembled crowd that it ‘ends the justification of homophobia’.
The ‘gay and trans panic’ defense is a legal strategy which has been deployed in court rooms across the US for decades.
Under such a defense, the perpetrator of a crime against an LGBTQ person can argue that they acted out of extreme emotional distress after learning about their victim’s sexual or gender identity.
The defense is often used to ‘mitigate a case of murder down to manslaughter or to justify a homicide’, according to LGBTQ Bar.
After passing the legislation on Sunday, New York follows in the footsteps of Illinois, California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Nevada, who have all outlawed the ‘gay and trans panic’ defense.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill outlawing the ‘gay and trans panic’ defense at the WorldPride in New York City on Sunday
Speaking with crowds, Cuomo stated: ‘New York has always been the heart of the LGBQ equality movement. It started at Stonewall [Inn], it started when we hosted the first Pride Day ever. And we’ve kept that legacy alive.’
He later went to meet with revelers outside the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar at the center of homophobic police raids in 1969 which catalyzed the modern LGBT+ rights movement.
Gay and trans panic’ defenses have been used in New York murder cases for decades.
The defense was most famously deployed during the high-profile trial of James Dixon, a New York man who fatally attacked trans woman Islan Nettles in 2013.
Dixon’s lawyers claimed their client was flirting with Nettles before he flew into a rage when he learned about her trans identity.

Cuomo later went to meet with revelers outside the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar at the center of homophobic police raids in 1969 which catalyzed the modern LGBT+ rights movement

Cuomo claimed that ‘New York has always been the home of the LGBTQ rights movement’
Dixon was reportedly embarrassed and mocked by friends for flirting with a person who was born a man.
He was eventually found guilty of manslaughter – a charge Nettles’ family claims is inadequate.
New York state legislature initially passed a proposal to outlaw the defense earlier in the month.
At the time, Cuomo took to Twitter to describe the move as ‘an important win for LGBTQ people everywhere’.
‘With the enactment of this measure we are sending this noxious legal defense strategy to the dustbin of history where it belongs,’ he wrote.
More than three million people are thought to have descended into Manhattan on Sunday to celebrate the WorldPride Parade and to make 50 years since the Stonewall Riots.

More than three million people are thought to have descended into Manhattan on Sunday to celebrate the WorldPride Parade