Search this blog:    Aboriginal  Māori




Gay Panic' Defense Abolished in Australian State

Gay Panic' Defense Abolished in Australian State
- Lawmakers have passed legislation that removes a controversial "gay panic" defense from the criminal code in an Australian state.
The code previously enabled the measure to be used as a partial defense to murder if an unwanted sexual advance had been made toward the accused in Queensland.
It was most famously used in 2008 when 45-year-old Wayne Ruks was killed by two men, Jason Pearce and Richard Meerdink, who claimed Ruks made advances at one of them. Murder charges were reduced to manslaughter as a result, despite Ruks' family disputing any notion that he was gay at the time. 

Top stories of the last 30 days