If you’re a heterosexual man or woman, and/or if your appearance is one where you’re perceived as not violating western society’s sex and gender norms, your life is more valuable than mine. That’s because I’m transgender.

At least, that’s what the hung jury in Brandon McInerney’s murder trial for the killing of Larry King tells me. The hung jury in the case tells me gay panic and trans panic defenses — “blame the victim” defenses — are still alive and well in my home state of California.

Our criminal justice system is entirely broken if the unsettling behavior of homicide victims is allowed as a justification for their murder, in middle school. This jury needs to do its job, not moan about how hard this decision is. It wasn’t hard for Brandon McInerney to get a gun and kill Larry King.