KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Florida

HB0317 • 2026

Gay and Transgender Panic Legal Defenses

Gay and Transgender Panic Legal Defenses

Crime
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Harris ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Campbell ; Rosenwald
Last action
2026-03-13
Official status
House - Died in Criminal Justice Subcommittee
Effective date
2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

There is a conflict between the 'Passed Legislature' label in metadata and the 'Died in Criminal Justice Subcommittee' last action. The explanation includes the text's provisions but notes this uncertainty.

Gay and Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Prohibition Act

This law stops people from using a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity as an excuse for committing a crime.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates Section 900.06 in the Florida Statutes.
  • Defines terms like 'sexual orientation,' 'gender expression,' and 'gender identity.'
  • Bans using a nonviolent sexual advance as a defense for criminal acts.
  • Prohibits courts from accepting beliefs about a person's sex, gender, or sexual orientation to excuse bad behavior.
  • Stops judges from lowering punishment based on these specific defenses.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People accused of crimes in Florida
  • Courts and judges handling criminal cases
  • Lawyers defending people accused of crimes

Terms To Know

Sexual orientation
A person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.
Gender expression or gender identity
Gender-related identity, appearance, or behavior, regardless of whether it matches what is traditionally associated with a person's physiology or assigned sex at birth.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law only applies to criminal cases in Florida.
  • It does not explain how courts will handle other types of defenses that are not listed here.
  • Although the bill text states it takes effect on July 1, 2026, official records show the bill died in a subcommittee.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-13 House

    • Died in Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  2. 2026-01-13 House

    • 1st Reading (Original Filed Version)

  3. 2025-11-12 House

    • Referred to Criminal Justice Subcommittee • Referred to Judiciary Committee • Now in Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  4. 2025-11-04 House

    • Filed

Official Summary Text

Gay and Transgender Panic Legal Defenses; Prohibits use of nonviolent sexual advance or specified perceptions or beliefs about another person as defense to criminal offense, to excuse or justify person's conduct, or to mitigate severity of offense.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HB 317 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb317-00
Page 1 of 2
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; providing a short title; providing 3
legislative findings; creating s. 900.06, F.S.; 4
providing definitions; prohibiting the use of a 5
nonviolent sexual advance or specified perceptions or 6
beliefs about another person as a defense to a 7
criminal offense, to excuse or justify a person's 8
conduct, or to mitigate the severity of an offense; 9
providing an effective date. 10
11
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
13
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Gay and 14
Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Prohibition Act." 15
Section 2. The Legislature finds that gay and transgender 16
panic legal defenses raised in criminal proceedings characterize 17
sexual orientation and gender expression or gender identity as 18
objectively reasonable excuses for a perpetrator's loss of self-19
control, and that these defenses thereby illegitimately attempt 20
to mitigate the responsibility of the perpetrator for harm done 21
to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender persons. 22
Section 3. Section 900.06, Florida Statutes, is created to 23
read: 24
900.06 Use of gay and transgender panic legal defenses 25

HB 317 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb317-00
Page 2 of 2
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

prohibited.— 26
(1) As used in this section, the term: 27
(a) "Gender expression" or "gender identity" means gender-28
related identity, appearance, or behavior, regardless of whether 29
such gender-related identity, appearance, or behavior is 30
different from that traditionally associated with a person's 31
physiology or assigned sex at birth. 32
(b) "Sexual orientation" means a person's actual or 33
perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. 34
(2) A nonviolent sexual advance or the perception or 35
belief, even if inaccurate, of the sex, sexual orientation, 36
gender expression, or gender identity of a person may not be 37
used as a defense to a criminal offense, to excuse or to justify 38
the conduct of a person who commits a criminal offense, or to 39
mitigate the severity of a criminal offense during sentencing. 40
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 41