Legislation approved Wednesday by the Washington State Legislature — and sponsored by 1st District Sen. Derek Stanford — will prevent defendants from using a victim’s gender identity or sexual orientation to justify violent assaults—a justification sometimes known as the “panic defense.”

Stanford was the prime sponsor of House Bill 1687 in 2019 as a state representative and was able to move it through the Senate this year. The bill clarifies that the discovery of a person’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation provides no justification for physical assault.

“Just finding out someone’s gender or sexual orientation should never be a justification for attacking that person,” said Stanford. “Sadly, this excuse is still used sometimes to try to justify violent assaults. This bill will make sure that it can’t be used by people who commit violent acts.”

HB 1687 is also known as the “Nikki Kuhnhausen Act,” named for a transgender teen who was murdered last year in an attack police believe occurred after her killer learned of her gender identity.

“Naming this bill after Nikki honors her memory and reminds us of the disproportionate amount of violence still faced by the LGBTQ community,” said Stanford. “We can do better, and this bill makes it clear to would-be attackers that these actions are indefensible.”

 Having passed in the House earlier this year, the bill can now be signed into law by the governor.