#such as with bruce mcarthur and how the cops dismissed reports and concerns because it concerned gay men | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

awkward-teabag · 5 months ago

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Not know the history behind it, how the very similar trans panic defense is used as an excuse to murder trans folks in multiple countries to this day, or that federally the US still has it on the books (bill S.2279 is still in the introductory phase; it has been introduced multiple times and every time failed) and various states still allow it.

If you are American, if you live in a grey or blue state you can be murdered with your killer claiming "gay panic" as a defense.

If you don't see the issue with it and/or are trying to reclaim it, just know a lot of us grew up with it being very negative, homophobic, and possibly lost friends or family where the murderer claimed, and got a reduced charge or the charge as dismissed, because "gay panic" was used.

And that doesn't even touch on trans panic and hearing a list of folks who were murdered over it every Trans Day of Visibility.

It should also be noted "gay panic" is still a legal defense in Canada. Odds of it being successful are slim (at least right now) but it is still something people can claim not as a denial but to get a lesser conviction. Some judges ban it but, nationally, it still exists and its permissibility is decided by individual judges.

Seeing tumblr users tag their blorboposts with "gay panic" is making me insane. This term does not mean what you all think it means.

#and that's if it even gets so far and is taken seriously enough to see court #too many cops are more than happy to turn a blind eye when queer and trans people are being murdered #such as with bruce mcarthur and how the cops dismissed reports and concerns because it concerned gay men #multiple lives would have been saved if police had taken it seriously as he was arrested but released #despite assaulting a man who was lucky enough to get away and having a previous assault conviction against a gay man #what i'm saying is even if 'gay panic' isn't on the books or used as a defense #the mentality and homophobia behind it is pervasive as hell and still very much part of justice systems #learn queer history don't claim (intentional) ignorance as a defense to not feel bad about using it in a fun way #there are also so many other ways to phrase it in a positive way there's no reason to go with 'gay panic'#not unless it's yet another attempt to sweep our history under the rug and basically seo'ing it #by getting naive young folks to parrot it ad nauseam and who will also defend using it in a 'cutesy' way #much like with the 'q slur' bs a few years back though that was more about attacking anyone who dared say queer #there's other things which originated with terfs and homophobes (e.g. genderqueer flag colours) intentionally trying to muddy things #hell there are even people who claim the og rainbow flag didn't have 3 colours not in the 6 stripe one #there's even been various claims baker wasn't gay or how he stole it from someone else #among other conspiracy theories because the queer community isn't immune from conspiracies or astroturfing or psyops #and the less informed you are about (recent!) history the more likely you are to fall for them

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