Florida Senate - 2023 SB 328
By Senator Book
35-00526-23 2023328__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to gay and transgender panic legal
3 defenses; creating s. 900.06, F.S.; providing a short
4 title; providing legislative findings; defining terms;
5 prohibiting individuals from using a nonviolent sexual
6 advance or specified perceptions or beliefs about
7 another individual as a defense to a criminal offense,
8 to excuse or justify the conduct of an individual who
9 commits a criminal offense, or to mitigate the
10 severity of a criminal offense; providing an effective
11 date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1.âSection 900.06, Florida Statutes, is created to
16 read:
17 900.06âUse of gay and transgender panic legal defenses
18 prohibited.â
19 (1)âSHORT TITLE.âThis act may be cited as the âGay and
20 Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Prohibition Act.â
21 (2)âLEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.âThe Legislature finds that gay
22 and transgender panic legal defenses raised in criminal
23 proceedings characterize sexual orientation and gender
24 expression or gender identity as objectively reasonable excuses
25 for a perpetratorâs loss of self-control, and that these
26 defenses thereby illegitimately attempt to mitigate the
27 responsibility of the perpetrator for harm done to lesbian, gay,
28 bisexual, or transgender individuals.
29 (3)âDEFINITIONS.âAs used in this section, the term:
30 (a)ââGay and transgender panic legal defenseâ means a legal
31 strategy that asks a judge or a jury to find that a victimâs
32 sexual orientation or gender identity is the cause of the
33 defendantâs reaction and commission of a criminal offense.
34 (b)ââGender expressionâ or âgender identityâ means gender
35 related identity, appearance, or behavior, regardless of whether
36 such gender-related identity, appearance, or behavior is
37 different from that traditionally associated with a personâs
38 physiology or assigned sex at birth.
39 (c)ââSexual orientationâ means an individualâs actual or
40 perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.
41 (4)âPROHIBITION ON GAY AND TRANSGENDER PANIC LEGAL
42 DEFENSES.âA nonviolent sexual advance or the perception or
43 belief, even if inaccurate, of the sex, sexual orientation,
44 gender expression, or gender identity of an individual may not
45 be used as a defense to a criminal offense, to excuse or to
46 justify the conduct of an individual who commits a criminal
47 offense, or to mitigate the severity of a criminal offense
48 during sentencing.
49 Section 2.âThis act shall take effect July 1, 2023.