There is an event on Facebook today encouraging us to do whatever we can to support CeCe McDonald who was recently convicted for fighting back against transphobic attackers. Her self-defense resulted in the death of one of them, and she’s now serving a 41 month sentence for the crime of defending herself while being brutally attacked. There’s a great story in Ebony online, and more out there if you want to get caught up with this case.
CeCe is a transgender woman, a woman of color, yet another victim in a long list of transgender women of color who’ve been the victims of violent crime based on their transgender status. I know the color of their skin is playing a huge role in the lack of popular outrage and the injustice in how their cases are, and have been, handled. But I’m not a person of color, I’m on the outside, feeling rage and a sick feeling. Even though I’m not a person of color, as a transgender person, as a person who routinely kicks the nuts of expected gender presentation, I don’t feel immune to the threat of that kind of violence. It has to stop, trans people need equal protection and equal justice. We all need to make a lot of noise whenever injustice occurs, no matter who it is, or where, or what that person was doing. No one deserves to be attacked. Period.
Speak out if you can, please.
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