New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

New York state, as of Sunday, will no longer allow defendants accused of murder to plead down those charges to manslaughter by saying their actions were the result of an extreme emotional disturbance caused by the discovery of someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Sunday to eliminate that option, which is more commonly known as the “gay panic” or “trans panic” defense.

The bill has been championed for the past several years by Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, a former public defender, and State Sen. Brad Hoylman. Both are openly gay members of the Legislature who represent parts of Manhattan.

“By banning the so-called gay and trans panic defense, New York is sending a message to prosecutors, defense attorneys, juries and judges that a victim's LGBTQ identity shouldn't be weaponized against them,” Hoylman said.

The bill was signed the same day as WorldPride, a global celebration of LGBTQ pride that was hosted in New York City this year. It's an especially significant year for New York City—this month marks 50 years since the riots at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, which many credit as a catalyst for the modern day LGBTQ rights movement.

Cuomo, before signing the bill Sunday, decried that New York still had the “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses as an option in the first place.

“We have now as a law in this state, something called the gay and trans panic defense. That a person can argue – they were so emotionally disturbed when they found out a person was gay or trans that that is actually a justification or an excuse for murder,” Cuomo said. “Not in this state.”

The bill was partly inspired by the story of a transgender woman, Islan Nettles, who died in 2013 after she was struck by a man who discovered her gender identity.

Her assailant was sentenced to 12 years in prison after saying that, when Nettles revealed she was transgender, he became enraged and attacked her because of it. He had later turned himself in to the police and entered a guilty plea.

Her mother, Delores Nettles, was invited to the bill signing Sunday and celebrated the legislation becoming law in a statement.

“In 2013, my daughter Islan was killed in Harlem for being who she was. Her attacker used the discriminatory 'trans panic' defense,” Nettles said. “I am so grateful that New York is banning this legislation so that no mother has to go through this again. We must keep fighting so that all trans people can live free from violence and discrimination.”

The bill wouldn't eliminate the option completely for defendants to say they were influenced by an extreme emotional disturbance, but it would set limits on that defense.

Defendants facing murder charges would no longer be able to plead them down to manslaughter by saying their actions were driven by the discovery of a victim's sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression or sex assigned at birth, according to the text of the bill.

The legislation had support from the New York State Bar Association and the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York, whose board president also attended the bill signing Sunday.

“This shows the kind of change that good government can and should bring. Banning the trans and gay panic defense is a huge step toward equality for LGBTQ New Yorkers,” said Kristen Prata Browde, board president of the LGBT Bar.

The bill had been opposed by a coalition of public defender organizations in New York City. They wrote in a memo to lawmakers before the bill passed that eliminating the defense would lead to more defendants serving longer sentences in state prison. The groups argued that the legislation would encourage incarceration, rather than benefit the LGBTQ community.

“Increased dependence on criminalization and incarceration, and on the tools of the state used to lock more people in cages, will not bring an end to discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ people,” the groups wrote. “By eliminating this defense, we will be providing the state with yet another tool to incarcerate more people.”

The Legal Aid Society, Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and others were on the memo.

The legislation didn't start to move until Cuomo included it on a list of items he wanted the Legislature to address before they left Albany for the year. It was passed, nearly unanimously, by both the Senate and Assembly in the final days of this year's legislative session, which ended in late June.

Not all of Cuomo's priorities were approved by the Legislature. A bill that would have legalized the option for same-sex and infertile couples to pay a woman to carry their child did not end up becoming law. It hit a snag in the Assembly where lawmakers had varied concerns, particularly about whether the surrogates would be protected under the law.

The “gay panic” legislation was easier to move. Only one lawmaker voted against it between the Assembly and the Senate, though it had failed to pass in recent years. The changes enacted by the new law will take effect immediately, according to the bill.

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State Senate Approves Legislation to End 'Gay Panic' Defense in NY