Within the rigid rituals of the courtroom, identity is exposed, distorted, and at times, weaponized. For LGBTQ+ individuals facing capital charges, the intersection of queerness and the death penalty is a crucible of compounded biases, where the stakes are life and death.
At NCCADP, we’ve long confronted how the death penalty magnifies systemic injustice – how it targets Black and Brown lives, punishes poverty and intellectual disability, and reflects the biases of those in power. This Pride Month, we ask our community to reckon with how queerness and transness are criminalized in courtrooms and erased in prisons. LGBTQ+ people are not outliers in this system; they are among its most vulnerable targets. To ignore this is to accept a partial story of injustice.
As we honor Pride Month, we must confront the sobering reality that the death penalty in the United States has long been entangled with anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice, both overt and insidious. From the colonial era, when sodomy was punishable by death, to contemporary courtrooms where queerness is used to dehumanize defendants, the legacy of discrimination persists.
The Courtroom as a Stage for Bias
In capital trials, LGBTQ+ defendants often face a unique form of scrutiny. Prosecutors have been known to exploit societal prejudices, painting queer defendants as deviant or dangerous. Defense attorneys, lacking cultural competency, may fail to challenge these narratives effectively. Jurors, influenced by ingrained biases, can render verdicts steeped in homophobia or transphobia.
A 2024 analysis by The Appeal examined over two dozen cases involving LGBTQ+ defendants facing the death penalty. The study found that anti-LGBTQ+ bias influenced more than half of these cases, affecting outcomes at various stages – from arrest to sentencing. In some instances, jurors admitted that a defendant’s sexual orientation impacted their decision to impose the death penalty. Let this sink in: some jurors have recognized that their calls for execution were not based in a concept of justice, but in eradication of an identity they devalued. What if that identity were yours?
Transgender Individuals: Invisibility and Vulnerability
Transgender people on death row confront a distinct set of challenges. Often, their gender identities are ignored or disrespected within the prison system, leading to misgendering and denial of appropriate healthcare. The Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide highlights that transgender individuals are frequently subjected to solitary confinement “for their own protection,” a practice that can exacerbate mental health issues.
Moreover, the lack of comprehensive data on transgender individuals in the criminal justice system means their experiences are often rendered invisible, hindering efforts to address systemic issues. What is clear even from the limited data available, however, is that transgender people are significantly overrepresented on death row: in 2023, Cornell found that 8% of the female death row population is transgender while only .6% of US adults identify as transgender.
A Case Study: Charles Rhines
The case of Charles Rhines, a gay man executed in South Dakota in 2019, underscores the lethal impact of bias. Jurors in his trial admitted that Rhines’ sexual orientation influenced their decision to impose the death penalty, expressing concerns that he would enjoy life in an all-male prison. Despite these revelations, the US Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, allowing the execution to proceed.
Spotlight on Partners’ Advocacy
Across North Carolina, our coalition partners are doing vital, often life-saving work to defend the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ people within the criminal legal system. Their efforts shine light into the dark corners of incarceration where identity is erased, health is denied, and cruelty is mistaken for order. As we examine the death penalty’s unequal toll, we also pause to recognize those working for justice on other fronts of this carceral landscape.
Kanautica Zayre-Brown, a Black transgender woman, has been denied gender-affirming healthcare by the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections despite a formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria. With support from NCCADP coalition member ACLU of North Carolina, she filed a complaint in court, demanding access to necessary treatment. In 2024, a federal judge ruled that the department’s process for evaluating her care was unconstitutional and ordered corrective action. The case, Zayre-Brown v. North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections, is a landmark challenge to the systemic denial of healthcare for incarcerated trans people.
Ashlee Inscoe, an intersex transgender woman held in a men’s facility since 2018, has endured years of medical neglect and institutional violence. Represented by NCCADP coalition member Emancipate NC, she became the first person in North Carolina history to receive a court order mandating her transfer to a women’s prison, a decision issued in late 2023 after urgent legal and medical advocacy. Though the North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed the transfer in 2025, the case has brought national attention to the state’s treatment of incarcerated trans and intersex individuals and underscored the need for systemic change.
Towards Justice: Advocacy and Reform
The stories of Kanautica Zayre-Brown and Ashlee Inscoe remind us that the need for reform is not theoretical. It is urgent. It is personal. Recognizing the deep-rooted injustices faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in the capital punishment and carceral systems means reckoning with our collective responsibility to demand and drive reform.
This begins with comprehensive judicial training. Lawyers, judges, and court personnel must be equipped with the cultural competence to recognize and challenge LGBTQ+ bias. If we want justice to be more than an ideal, we have to demand that those entrusted with it understand the communities they serve.
We also need better data. Without clear, accurate information about how LGBTQ+ people are impacted by the death penalty, particularly those who are transgender or nonbinary, efforts at reform remain hamstrung.
And finally, we must confront the death penalty itself. Abolition is not a distant goal reserved for idealists. It is a necessary step toward justice. If we truly believe in the dignity and worth of every person, then we must reject a system that disproportionately targets the poor, the marginalized, and the historically silenced. This Pride Month, and every month, we invite you to take action: join the movement, attend one of our information sessions, write to your representatives, and speak out. The death penalty cannot be reformed into fairness. But together, we can loudly affirm the humanity of every person and create a new vision of justice.
Resources to Learn More
Capers, I. B. (2020). Against Prosecutors. Cornell Law Review, 105(1561), 1561-1610.
DPIC. (2024, June 17). Research roundup: Anti-queer practices in capital cases. Death Penalty Information Center. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/research-roundup-anti-queer-practices-in-capital-cases
Hampton, J. (2019). Homosexuality: An aggravating factor. Tulane Journal of Law and Sexuality, 28, 33-40.
Holsinger, A., & Sutton, J. (2024, June 27). Attorney Jessica Sutton on the unique challenges of LGBTQ+ capital defendants. Death Penalty Information Center. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/resources/podcasts/discussions-with-dpic/attorney-jessica-sutton-on-the-unique-challenges-of-lgbtq-capital-defendants
LGBTQ+ People. (2017, December 11). Death Penalty Information Center. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/biases-and-vulnerabilities/lgbtq-peopledeathpenaltyinfo.org
Minter, S. (2018, June 28). A gay man got the death penalty due to homophobia — And SCOTUS did nothing. Them. https://www.them.us/story/scotus-anti-lgbtq-bias-death-penalty
Mogul, J. L. (2005). The dykier, the Butcher, the better: The state’s use of homophobia and sexism to execute women in the United States. CUNY Law Review, 8(2), 473-494. https://doi.org/10.31641/clr080221
Rhodes, A. M. (2024, August 13). In U.S. courts, Anti-LGBTQ+ bias can be a death sentence. The Appeal. https://theappeal.org/lgbtq-bias-death-sentence/
Shortnacy, M. B. (2001). Guilty and gay, a recipe for execution in American courtrooms: Sexual orientation as a tool for prosecutorial misconduct in death penalty cases. American University Law Review, 51(2), 309-365.
Stamp, B. P. (2023). No pride, all prejudice: Addressing LGBTQ+ bias in capital punishment sentencing. Lincoln Memorial University Law Review, 10(3), 93-113.
