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| The 2002 murder of transgender teen Gwen Araujo, 17, prompted California lawmakers to introduce a bill to ban so-called 'trans panic' defenses. |
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Gwen Araujo died a brutal death.
After partying with a group of friends in September 2002, including having sexual contact with several young men, Araujo, 17, was invited to party with them again on Oct. 3, 2002.
But when the young men learned that night that Araujo had male genitalia, they beat and strangled her, leaving her body in a shallow grave. And when Araujo''''s attackers went on trial, they claimed their discovery justified their actions.
Late last month, the California Assembly approved a first-of-its-kind bill putting the state on record against the so-called "trans panic" and "gay panic" defenses used by some killers to receive lighter prison sentences.
Passed by the Assembly Jan. 26 and now pending before the state Senate, the bill is named for Araujo, and its approval came just one day before her assailants received the longest sentences allowed by law.
Michael Magidson, 25, and Jose Merel, 26, were sentenced to the mandatory terms of 15 years-to-life for second-degree murder. Jason Cazares, 26, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in a plea bargain and was sentenced to six years.
As part of their defense, the assailants said they believed Araujo to be female, had sexual contact with her, and then snapped when they found out she was biologically male. One defendant cried over and over, "I can''''t be gay, I can''''t be gay," according to court testimony.
California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-San Jose), who authored the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, said her bill is dedicated to leveling the judicial playing field.
"It was exclusively Gwen''''s trans status that made her a target," Lieber said in an interview Feb. 8. "This murder was something we in the Bay Area thought only happened in rural, isolated places, and this crime really stuck with me and the residents here."
Obligation to tell?
Cole Thaler, staff attorney for transgender rights with the gay litigation group Lambda Legal, said the jury''''s decision to bestow the harshest punishments in the Gwen Araujo case is a hopeful sign the tide is beginning to turn against "trans panic" and "gay panic" defenses.
"These kinds of defenses are ''''heat of passion'''' defenses," Thaler said. "And the heat of passion defense results from how we as a society expect reasonable people to react in certain ways. When these kinds of defenses are successful, they are simply confirmation of homophobia and transphobia as being part of our values — and I argue that we don''''t want these as our societal values."
Courts haven''''t found that transgender people have any legal obligation to disclose their status to potential sex partners, Thaler said, tending to side against any kind of "sexual fraud" defense made in cases involving trans victims.
Society needs to be educated that trans people are who they say they are, regardless of their genitalia, he added.
"If you meet someone at a bar and decide to go home with them, there is no obligation to reveal your racial ethnicity or your religion," Thaler said. "A trans woman is accurately representing herself as a woman … The fact Gwen Araujo was born with male genitalia did not make her any less of a woman."
Disclosure ''''really big issue''''
Rachael St. Claire, a transsexual psychologist from Colorado, has experienced disclosure issues both personally and professionally, particularly with male-to-female clients.
"Disclosure is a really big issue for them," she said. "Male-to-female transgender people who are attracted to heterosexual men have a difficult time. And generally what I counsel is for the person to identify what their values are and what their intentions are," St. Claire said.
If a trans person is going to disclose to a partner for the first time, they may want to do it in a public place or even over the telephone to be safer, she said.
And as a transsexual woman who has faced disclosure many times in dating relationships, St. Claire said it''''s often a "relationship killer" with the heterosexual men to whom she is attracted.
"I don''''t think it is very safe to be having a relationship with a heterosexual man without telling them because of the potential violence," she said.
But even if a transgender person doesn''''t disclose her status to a date, it doesn''''t justify a physical attack, St. Claire stressed.
"That''''s like equaling a woman''''s responsibility for not being raped," she said.
Randi Ettner, a Chicago therapist and transgender specialist whose books include "Gender Loving Care: A Guide to Counseling Gender-Variant Clients," said the issue of disclosure is the most frequently asked question in her practice.
"Unfortunately, there is so much ignorance and prejudice about this condition that trans people have to be very ...
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