Less than four months ago, Savannah Ryan Williams was killed in Minneapolis after performing a sex act on a man during the early morning hours of Nov. 29, 2023.

According to police reports, Damerean Kaylon Bible, 25, told law enforcement that he became “suspicious” of Williams, a transgender woman, before he shot her point blank in the head.

Bible reportedly confessed the murder to a parent in a phone call recorded by police and claimed that he “had to do it.”

He is now charged with felony second-degree murder, and his lawyer notified the court earlier this month that his defense includes acting in the defense of self and/or others. Bible’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Savannah Williams poses in an undated photo. (Courtesy of The Aliveness Project via Forum News Service)

Williams’ death and the ensuing self-defense claim is a familiar chain of events to the LGBTQ+ community. A bill introduced by Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislators represents an attempt to change that.

The legislation is a continued push by legislators to provide more protections for the LGBTQ+ community, partially in response to the death of Williams, according to Rep. Brion Curran, DFL-Vadnais Heights, who said that statements made by Bible were about Williams’ identity.

Curran recently introduced a bill in the House that’s a companion piece to legislation introduced last year in the Senate. If passed, it would bar a defendant from using someone’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression as a defense for committing a crime.

“Just by using that defense in the courtroom, it gives a platform to that rhetoric that LGBTQ+ individuals have a reason to be harmed or a reason to be feared or that there’s some sort of excuse for violence against us,” said Curran, who identifies as nonbinary.

The legal strategy is called the LGBTQ+ panic defense, meaning that someone is so shocked by the sexual orientation or gender identity of a sexual partner that they are driven temporarily insane, which absolves them of any responsibility regarding the assault or murder of their partner.

“It’s using a piece of someone’s identity as an excuse to harm, and that doesn’t make sense, it’s not moral,” Curran said.

While a criminal defendant may use it in Minnesota, it is currently barred in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

Many advocates who push for the defense to be banned cite the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard over two decades ago and the ensuing trial as a reason to pass this type of legislation.

Shepard, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, was tied to a fence and violently beaten in a field outside of Laramie, Wyoming, where he was left to die.

During the trial to bring one of his killers to justice, a sheriff’s deputy said Shepard’s face was covered in blood, except for where his tears had fallen down his face. Shepard died about six days after the assault.

His killer, Aaron McKinney, attempted to claim in court that he was driven temporarily insane after alleged sexual advances by Shepard. A judge refused to allow that defense in court after McKinney’s girlfriend said McKinney and his accomplice, Russell Henderson, pretended to be gay to lure Shepard into a truck so they could rob him.

Both men were convicted of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Shepard’s murder and court trial received national attention, though laws regulating the LGBTQ+ panic defense have only picked up steam since 2019, when only eight states had banned the defense. The first of those was California in 2014. Wyoming, where Shepard was murdered, still allows the defense.

While the movement is gaining momentum, about 56% of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States live in a state where someone accused of their murder can use a self-defense claim based on their victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity during trial.

The LGBTQ+ communities in those areas have a good reason to be fearful, said Courtnay Avant, legislative counsel for Human Rights Campaign, an organization focused on ending discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

“We’re in a moment where anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is on the rise, and so we’ve seen an explosion in really violent and hateful rhetoric targeting LGBTQ+ people and we’re seeing that it is leading to a horrifying elevation of physical violence against the community,” she said.

According to 2022 hate crime statistics from the FBI, incidents targeting gay men and women have recorded their highest totals in the last five years and anti-transgender incidents increased nearly 40% from 2021 to 2022.

“It’s been 25 years since the death of Matthew Shepard, and we are still talking about LGBTQ+ panic defenses,” Avant said. “So there’s a lot of work to be done.”

The American Bar Association has also called for government entities to take legislative action to curtail the availability and effectiveness of the LGBTQ+ panic defense since 2013.

“It is harrowing that currently, one’s sexual orientation or gender identity can still provide even an inkling of a legal defense in their murder trial. Help to end this discrimination by supporting legislative bans on the gay/trans panic defense,” an ABA member wrote in a 2019 OP-ED for the association.

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DULUTH — Anyone who spent the past few months in the Upper Midwest won’t be surprised to know that winter’s grip on Minnesota lakes is disappearing faster than Sasquatch when you pull out a camera.

The warmest meteorological winter since accurate records have been kept across Minnesota is leading to the earliest-ever ice-out dates for many of the state’s 10,000 or more lakes, and in most cases, it’s not even close.

Nearly all of the lakes in the southern half of the state have lost their ice at a record-early date so far this year, many a full month or more ahead of normal, according to data from the Minnesota State Climatology Office of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Clear Lake in Waseca County, with records dating back to 1874, lost its ice March 1 this year, smashing the old record set March 6, 1987, and more than a month ahead of the median ice-out date of April 3. Pickerel Lake in Aitkin County lost its ice March 9, more than a month before its average April 14 ice-out. Even Fish Lake near Duluth had ample open water at midweek, approaching ice-out.

For northern Minnesota, 2012 is the year to beat in many cases, the last time the Northland had a non-winter and saw most lakes lose their ice in March and April. Big Sandy Lake in Aitkin County lost its ice March 26, 2012, the earliest on record. Even the big, cold lakes bordering Ontario lost their ice in early April in 2012, and that appears to be what may happen this year.

The lack of snow on any Minnesota lake of late means an even faster ice-out. Snow insulates the ice and protects it from the sun, making ice last longer.

“So far, it’s been pretty consistently a month early as it (ice-out) progresses north. That may slow down some farther north, but probably not much,’’ said Pete Boulay, a climatologist with the Minnesota State Climatology Office.

While state climatologists don’t have nearly as many records for lake ice-in dates, the dates lakes freeze over, they have a few that may show this was the shortest winter ice period on record. Boulay says he’s watching Lake Bemidji which has both ice-in and ice-out dates going back to 1959. Until now the shortest period of ice cover was 85 days in 2012 and again in 2016. But because Lake Bemidji didn’t officially freeze until Jan. 6 this winter, Boulay is guessing the lake may break its record for shortest ice cover.

Having lakes ice-free a month early should be good for people anxious to open their cabins, put in their docks and start fishing, but it may not be great for the fish. The News Tribune earlier this month reported that recent research by Wisconsin scientists found that earlier and highly variable ice-out dates hurt walleye spawning success.

This will be one year when there’s no worrying if the ice will be out by the Minnesota fishing opener.

“Not only has it been very, but we didn’t have much ice to begin with,’’ said Don Schreiner, a fisheries researcher for Minnesota Sea Grant at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The extra month of open water means lake water will likely warm up faster, spurring more weed growth and likely more algae blooms, Schreiner noted. He said lake ecosystems would get a jump-start from the extra month without ice and that fish, by the May 11 fishing opener, could be in places and moods they would normally be in early June.

“Daylight (length) is also a factor (in when fish spawn) so that should moderate the very early ice-out somewhat. But it’s going to make this an interesting summer,’’ Schreiner said. “If the temperature trend we’ve seen this winter continues, weeds and algae are probably going to be an issue.”

Many lakes and rivers are already very low due to virtually no winter runoff and ongoing drought conditions. Schreiner said the low and warmer water could be most troublesome for fish in North Shore streams, which tend to run off stored snowmelt and rainfall rather than from underground springs.

“We could see fish struggling to get up streams,’’ he said.

Did you know?

Greenwood Lake in Cook County is, on average, the last lake in Minnesota to lose its ice, with a median date of May 9. Still, it has happened as late as May 24 (2014) and as early as April 10 (2012). The latest ice-out on record in Minnesota is for Gunflint Lake, on the Ontario border, which didn’t lose its ice until June 3 in 1936.

Definition of lake ice-out

The definition of lake ice out can vary from lake to lake. In most cases for the citizen observers reporting data to the Minnesota State Climatology Office, ice out occurs when the lake is completely free of ice. But for some lakes, it may be when it is possible to navigate from point A to point B. Either way, observers on each lake use consistent criteria from year to year when reporting lake ice-out dates. To check your favorite lake, go to dnr.state.mn.us/ice_out/index.html.

Find estimated ice-out date for your lake

The Duluth News Tribune wrote last year about Minnesota Sea Grant’s new Ice Out Widget. This year Sea Grant has renamed it the Minnesota Ice-Out Clock and updated some features to make it easier to use. You simply click on the weather station nearest your lake, fill in a little information and the program spits out an estimate for ice-out. Go to seagrant.umn.edu/programs/recreation-and-water-safety-program/mn-ice-out-clock.

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President Joe Biden’s team looks to Taylor Swift for a touchdown. Considering the obvious ability that pop star Taylor Swift and her NFL star boyfriend, Travis Kelce, have shown for stealing the limelight, it comes as little surprise that, without even trying, they have generated their own conspiracy theory, too.

Long-standing conspiracy theories about the NFL and the “deep state” and other far reaches of the fever swamps produced a photo on the Twitter account @NFL_Memes that claimed a connection between Super Bowl logo colors and the teams playing in the big game itself. In response, faster than you could say “touchdown,” right-wing conspiracy theorists were claiming Swift’s involvement with Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs is really part of a plot to gin up support for Biden in the 2024 election.

Considering the lackluster state of Biden’s campaign, the president needs all the help he can get. Besides, the success of Swift and her record-breaking Eras Tour have made this such a successful time for the pop star that it is not surprising to see the Biden campaign dream of sharing some of the glory and good fortune.

After all, it didn’t hurt Biden to have Swift’s endorsement in 2020. Last year a single Instagram post from her led to 35,000 new voter registrations. Even if old-timer football personalities disparage the couple’s star appeal as a big distraction, as retired coach Tony Dungy did recently, the entertainment industry known as the NFL has to be delighted with the publicity, merch sales and other revenue that the fun couple has brought to the sport.

Just as John F. Kennedy enlivened the White House with Frank Sinatra and his “Rat Pack” of pals and began a long-running tradition of Hollywood hobnobbing with presidents — mostly Democrats, as it turned out — today’s campaigns seek their own stars and welcome those who come along. As it struggles to hang onto such core constituencies as young liberals and people of color, at least according to polls, the Biden campaign has begun discussions with celebrities and social media stars about promoting Biden on Instagram and TikTok.

Old-school pols made good use of TV ads. Given today’s sensibilities, Biden’s campaign has enlisted “influencers” with a following on Instagram and TikTok — which I’m going to figure out one of these days.

Biden’s plan, insiders say, leans toward direct assaults on Trump and a big emphasis on abortion rights — an easy issue to contrast with sound bites of Trump boasting about picking Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. Democratic success at restoring abortion rights in red states that have put the issue to a referendum justifiably encourages the Biden campaign, but it’s likely not enough by itself to defeat Trump.

Biden’s campaign reportedly believes that the more the public sees and hears Trump brag about wanting to be “a dictator on day one,” the more voters will be brought to their side on issues like abortion and health care. Such a reversal won’t come easily. No one seems to thrive as much off of criminal indictments as Trump does.

But it’s still early in the campaign calendar and there’s still hope, according to longtime supporters. One who knows how that works is Rep. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and key Biden ally, who was credited with Biden’s crucial turnaround in 2020. He told The New York Times that Democrats needed to make an affirmative case and remind voters of tangible changes to their lives — like capping insulin costs, infrastructure cash for roads and bridges and other important promisesBiden kept.

But those “promises kept” have not mattered enough to younger and more progressive voters who have not given the administration much credit for itsaccomplishments — or harbor, in many cases, resentment toward Team Biden’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas. Complex issues like that are not easily debated in the midst of a presidential campaign, but campaigns are, after all, a nation’s sometimes ungainly debate over issues determining its future.

Politics often look like a game, but now it’s time to get serious.

cpage@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @cptime

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