Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0393 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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1010 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
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to gay and transgender panic legal 2
1616 defenses; creating s. 900.06, F.S.; providing a short 3
1717 title; providing legislative findings; defining terms; 4
1818 prohibiting individuals from using a nonviolent sexual 5
1919 advance or specified perceptions or beliefs about 6
2020 another individual as a defense to a criminal offense, 7
2121 to excuse or justify the conduct of an individual who 8
2222 commits a criminal offense, or to mitigate the 9
2323 severity of a criminal offense; providing an effective 10
2424 date. 11
2525 12
2626 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
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2828 Section 1. Section 900.06, Florida Statutes, is created to 15
2929 read: 16
3030 900.06 Use of gay and transgender panic legal defenses 17
3131 prohibited.— 18
3232 (1) SHORT TITLE.—This act may be cited as the "Gay and 19
3333 Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Prohibition Act." 20
3434 (2) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. —The Legislature finds that gay 21
3535 and transgender panic legal defenses raised in criminal 22
3636 proceedings characte rize sexual orientation and gender 23
3737 expression or gender identity as objectively reasonable excuses 24
3838 for a perpetrator's loss of self -control, and that these 25
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4747 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
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5151 defenses thereby illegitimately attempt to mitigate the 26
5252 responsibility of the perpetrator for harm d one to lesbian, gay, 27
5353 bisexual, or transgender individuals. 28
5454 (3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 29
5555 (a) "Gay and transgender panic legal defense" means a 30
5656 legal strategy that asks a judge or a jury to find that a 31
5757 victim's sexual orientation o r gender identity is the cause of 32
5858 the defendant's reaction and commission of a criminal offense. 33
5959 (b) "Gender expression" or "gender identity" means gender -34
6060 related identity, appearance, or behavior, regardless of whether 35
6161 such gender-related identity, appe arance, or behavior is 36
6262 different from that traditionally associated with a person's 37
6363 physiology or assigned sex at birth. 38
6464 (c) "Sexual orientation" means an individual's actual or 39
6565 perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. 40
6666 (4) PROHIBITION ON GAY AND TRANSGENDER PANIC LEGAL 41
6767 DEFENSES.—A nonviolent sexual advance or the perception or 42
6868 belief, even if inaccurate, of the sex, sexual orientation, 43
6969 gender expression, or gender identity of an individual may not 44
7070 be used as a defense to a criminal offe nse, to excuse or to 45
7171 justify the conduct of an individual who commits a criminal 46
7272 offense, or to mitigate the severity of a criminal offense 47
7373 during sentencing. 48
7474 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 49