No cause for panic

Angie Zapata's killer claims that he simply "snapped" when he learned the woman he had begun to date was transgender. Thirty-six hours after the revelation, Zapata was dead, the victim of a brutal blunt-force beating with a fire extinguisher. She was 18 years old.

The killer never disputed his culpability in the murder itself. The wealth of DNA and other evidence made an innocent plea impossible. Instead, his defense attorneys requested a reduced sentence on the ground that Zapata's gender was, in itself, a "provocation."

This legal strategy, often referred to as "gay panic" or, in the case of Angie Zapata, "trans panic," is still depressingly common in American courtrooms. Full story...