By Gaayathri
A young feminist hailing from Auckland, New Zealand. She is the child of diaspora two times over and is deeply passionate about all forms of social justice. She can be found tweeting sporadically @A_Gaayathri and blogging at http://www.ahumanstory.wordpress.com.
[Content note for discussion of transphobic violence]
I would like to take a moment to introduce you to the story of CeCe McDonald. As a young trans woman of colour Cece was never going to have it easy. There is not enough solid data on the discrimination of trans people in the world but there are some things we do know. 49% of trans people attempt suicide, trans youth account for 18% of homeless people in cities such as chicago, and most perhaps most devastatingly it is posited that trans people have a 1 in 12 chance of getting murdered. What is clear from these numbers is that trans people face overwhelming discrimination and the threat of violence is something they have to deal with every day, just for being who they are.
CeCe Mcdonald stood up to hate in her community and now she is paying the price.
The Background
Early in the morning on June 5th 2011 Cece and a group of friends, many of whom were visibly queer, were walking to the grocery store. As they passed a local bar they were subjected to transphobic, homophobic, racist and misogynist abuse by a group of older white people. The abuse included the allegation that Cece was ‘dressed as a woman’ in order to commit rape. When CeCe confronted the group and said that she and her friends would not stand for hate speech, a woman smashed her glass into CeCe’s face puncturing her cheek and lacerating her salivary gland. In the ensuing fight, one of the attackers named Dean Scmitz was fatally stabbed.
CeCe was arrested for the stabbing and has since accepted a plea deal meaning she is currently serving 41 months in jail for second degree manslaughter.
Cece has been continually misgendered both by the media and the courts. She was placed in solitary confinement for a full month. There has never been official recognition or any charges laid for the hate crime that was committed against her.
What You Can Do
Cece needs our support. We need to stand up for the fact that transphobia in our communities is not OK. This means standing with CeCe in her fight against injustice.
One option is to write to CeCe and show your solidarity here:
Chrishaun McDonald OID #238072 Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud
2305 Minnesota Boulevard S.E.
St. Cloud, MN 56304
Please note that because CeCe is prison there are conditions on what you can send her.
Another option is to donate to CeCe’s support fund, the money goes towards offsetting costs caused by her incarceration
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