In 2011, CeCe McDonald and two friends were walking past a Minneapolis bar when a drunken group began taunting them with racist, homophobic and transphobic slurs. McDonald was attacked with a shattered drinking glass that cut her face and salivary gland. She defended herself against a second assailant with fabric shears, and the assailant died. Sentenced to 41 months in prison for manslaughter, McDonald began speaking out against the criminal justice system. A transgender female in a men’s prison, she spent a lot of time in solitary confinement. Her case helped bring attention to the violence and discrimination transgender women of color face.
While in prison, McDonald’s name trended on social media with the hashtag #FreeCeCe. She was released after 19 months for good behavior.
In 2016, actress and LGBTQ rights activist Laverne Cox co-produced the documentary “Free CeCe!”, empowering others to join the movement. Since her release, McDonald kept up her activism to end the prison-industrial complex.
