Why Hasn't the "Gay Panic" Defense Died a Miserable Death?

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stab you to death, but I was freaked out about your sexual orientation.

Sounds ridiculous, but the venerable "gay panic" defense is being tossed about surrounding a murder in Indiana, where an Indiana University professor was killed last week. That professor, Don Belton, was stabbed in his own kitchen six times with a ten-inch military knife. The assailant, Michael Griffin, is a 25-year-old ex-marine and Bloomington, Indiana resident.

The details of the case are murky. Journals from Belton's own home indicate that the two had some sort of relationship, dating back a few weeks. Griffin also apparently told police that he stabbed Belton because the professor wouldn't apologize for an unwanted sexual advance on Christmas Day. But the extent to which these two knew each other, and how they knew each other, hasn't really been fully disclosed just yet.

But that's not stopping some from speculating that "gay panic" led to Belton's murder. Take Ryan Smith over at CBS News, who writes, "Though his defense strategy is not yet clear, others with similar cases have pursued a 'gay panic' defense, hoping to persuade juries that they were rendered temporarily insane by the perceived romantic or sexual advances of the victim."

In 2010, one might think "gay panic" is as much an oxymoron as "jumbo shrimp" or "fighting for peace." After all, let's call "gay panic" what it really is -- an act by someone so self-loathing or insecure that they annihilate a person because they can't come to terms with their own issues. As a friend of mine put it, yeah, that may be panic. But defensible? Hardly.

The most famous example of the "gay panic" defense was likely the case of Matthew Shepard. His assailants argued -- unsuccessfully, thankfully -- that Shepard made unwanted sexual advances that enraged them to the point of murder. It was all a ruse, of course (Shepard's assailants later recanted their "gay panic" storyline), but a ruse that further legitimated that one could be panicked enough by LGBT people that, in theory, one could justify murder.

Taking this out of the hypothetical realm, the "gay panic" defense actually worked last year in a case out of Illinois, Indiana's next-door neighbor to the west. Joseph Biedermann stabbed Terrence Hauser 61 times with a knife, after Biedermann said he was responding to unwanted sexual advances to Hauser. Which makes it real interesting that he had to stab Hauser 61 times to fend off such advances, that the apartment showed no sign of struggle, and that Biedermann went home after the murder and showered instead of calling any authorities. (In fact, Biedermann never called any authorities. His girlfriend did, hours later.) But sure enough, an Illinois jury let the dude walk free. "Gay panic."

The Belton case is still so surrounded by unknowns that it will take time to figure out how the case will proceed. Will Michael Griffin claim "gay panic" as a reason for mauling Professor Belton? Will a judge and/or jury allow it?

We'll see. But either way, let's not confuse "gay panic" for something that's plausible. Just because it has been allowed in courtrooms in the past doesn't make it right, or defensible.

Meanwhile, the Indiana University community continues to grieve over the loss of a revered professor. "His great talents as a writer, his extraordinary generosity to his students, and his warmth of personality were gifts to us all," said an official statement from the University. "We will miss him terribly."

(Photo courtesy of CarbonNYC's photostream on Flickr)