HB 393 2023
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0393-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to gay and transgender panic legal 2
defenses; creating s. 900.06, F.S.; providing a short 3
title; providing legislative findings; defining terms; 4
prohibiting individuals from using a nonviolent sexual 5
advance or specified perceptions or beliefs about 6
another individual as a defense to a criminal offense, 7
to excuse or justify the conduct of an individual who 8
commits a criminal offense, or to mitigate the 9
severity of a criminal offense; providing an effective 10
date. 11
12
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
14
Section 1. Section 900.06, Florida Statutes, is created to 15
read: 16
900.06 Use of gay and transgender panic legal defenses 17
prohibited.— 18
(1) SHORT TITLE.—This act may be cited as the "Gay and 19
Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Prohibition Act." 20
(2) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. —The Legislature finds that gay 21
and transgender panic legal defenses raised in criminal 22
proceedings characte rize sexual orientation and gender 23
expression or gender identity as objectively reasonable excuses 24
for a perpetrator's loss of self -control, and that these 25
HB 393 2023
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0393-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
defenses thereby illegitimately attempt to mitigate the 26
responsibility of the perpetrator for harm d one to lesbian, gay, 27
bisexual, or transgender individuals. 28
(3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 29
(a) "Gay and transgender panic legal defense" means a 30
legal strategy that asks a judge or a jury to find that a 31
victim's sexual orientation o r gender identity is the cause of 32
the defendant's reaction and commission of a criminal offense. 33
(b) "Gender expression" or "gender identity" means gender -34
related identity, appearance, or behavior, regardless of whether 35
such gender-related identity, appe arance, or behavior is 36
different from that traditionally associated with a person's 37
physiology or assigned sex at birth. 38
(c) "Sexual orientation" means an individual's actual or 39
perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. 40
(4) PROHIBITION ON GAY AND TRANSGENDER PANIC LEGAL 41
DEFENSES.—A nonviolent sexual advance or the perception or 42
belief, even if inaccurate, of the sex, sexual orientation, 43
gender expression, or gender identity of an individual may not 44
be used as a defense to a criminal offe nse, to excuse or to 45
justify the conduct of an individual who commits a criminal 46
offense, or to mitigate the severity of a criminal offense 47
during sentencing. 48
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 49