CONCORD — Keene Rep. Shaun Filiault’s bill to ban use of the so-called “gay-panic defense” in homicide cases won final passage in the House and Senate on Thursday, before lawmakers went on their summer break.
“I’m ecstatic,” Filiault said. “It’s nice to finally have this at the end of the road. It’s so important for protecting people’s safety.”
Filiault said he’s optimistic Gov. Chris Sununu will sign the bill into law.
Early this month, Filiault quit the Democratic Party over his contention that party leaders weren’t doing enough to support his efforts on behalf of the bill. He is now an independent.
House Bill 315, introduced by Filiault in January, is aimed at barring homicide defendants from claiming temporary insanity because of an unwanted same-sex sexual advance.
Since 2013, the American Bar Association has recommended that all jurisdictions abolish this type of defense, and 17 states have done so.
Filiault said he couldn’t find evidence of the legal defense being ever used in the state but said the legislation is needed to ward off this possibility.
“There’s also a huge symbolic significance,” he said.
“This defense implies the lives of LGBTQ+ people are not as important as that of straight people, and that is simply not the case. This bill sends a loud and clear message that this state values LGBTQ+ people on an equal footing as anybody else.”
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