LGBTQ+ Panic Defense as Gendered Violence
Gwen Araujo
The LGBTQ+ community has historically faced and continues to face, higher rates of violence. While all identities in the LGBTQ+ community experience this emotional and physical violence, this site will focus on violence against transgender individuals.
It is estimated that 1 out of 4 transgender individuals will experience a hate crime in their lifetime, especially if they are also a person of color [1]. Hate crimes against transgender women of color involve a clear anti-transgender bias, which, when these crimes turn fatal, can manifest in the legal defense used in subsequent trials. This is known as the LGBTQ+ panic defense [2] and is used to legitimize violence against transgender individuals, specifically transgender women.
While the details of these cases all differ, it is clear that fatal violence is disproportionately experienced by transgender women of color. In 2019, 21 transgender individuals were murdered [3]. 20 of them were women of color [4]. Many of these women faced severe miscarriages of justice, were deadnamed in police and news reports, and were disrespected long after death through the use of the LGBTQ+ panic defense at the trials of their attackers. And at the base of this defense for transgender women of color are the intersecting systems of power that control their bodily autonomy: racism, heteronormativity, and cisnormativity.
In order to address these intersecting systems of power, this site will examine the tragic 2002 murder of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo, a transgender Latina teenager who lived in California. Gwen's family was forced to suffer multiple long and difficult trials, at which the LGBTQ+ panic defense was utilized. The account of Gwen's murder may be upsetting to some readers, a trigger and content warning will be posted at the top of the page.
Following Gwen's death, monumental changes were made in California legislation regarding the use of the LGBTQ+ panic defense; however, it still remains widely used today.
Some of the resources used on this site are from 2002 and other earlier years, and do not accurately reflect the respect owed to Gwen Araujo and her family. It is important to recognize that there wasn't as widespread acceptance of transgender individuals as there are today. Sadly, many news reports misgendered Gwen and didn't use her correct pronouns. This is just another example of how quickly society rips away the bodily autonomy of transgender women, even after they are dead. Gwen was a woman and she will be referred to as such throughout this site.
References:
1] "LGBTQ+ Panic Defense,” The National LGBT Bar Association, Accessed November 1, 2020, https://lgbtbar.org/programs/advocacy/gay-trans-panic-defense/
[2] "LGBTQ+ Panic Defense."
[3] Trudy Ring, “These Are the Trans People Killed in 2019,” Advocate, December 20, 2019, https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2019/5/22/these-are-trans-people-killed-2019#media-gallery-media-21
[4] Ring, "Trans People Killed in 2019."