Leslie Feinberg Arrested In Solidarity With CeCe McDonald
Filed By Mercedes Allen | June 05, 2012 5:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2012/06/leslie_feinberg_arrested_in_solidarity_with_cece_m_1.php or
http://dentedbluemercedes.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/leslie-feinberg-arrested-in-solidarity-with-cece-mcdonald/What first struck me about Leslie Feinberg is hir commitment to fighting oppression on a universal scale, rather than just in a cliquish self-focused manner. This means recognizing where our needs correspond and intersect, and characteristically parallel causes like race and sex, or reproductive rights and genital reassignment surgery access. Say what you want about Feinberg, but ze has walked the walk.
Leslie Feinberg has been arrested and is facing charges of property damage. The arrest came during a protest of the conviction of CeCe McDonald, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for manslaughter following the death of Dean Schmitz in Minneapolis.
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CeCe - like the majority of transsexed women - is being classified as male by the state and being made to serve her sentence in a mens' prison where there is inevitably an extremely high likelihood of prison rape. Sometimes, ostensibly to avoid rape, solitary confinement is used as an alternative, which itself becomes an isolating, harsh, and cruel and unusual punishment (which doesn't statistically decrease the incidence of prison rape by guards and personnel).
It is not known whether these may be factors for McDonald, but trans prisoners are routinely denied access to hormones and medical treatment, are humiliated, harassed, neglected and misgendered. They are forced to adopt incongruent gender presentation and are denied access to programs, jobs, and drug treatment because they take place in gendered settings. They are restricted in movement far more than typical for prisoners, and are retaliated against when they complain or appeal for assistance.
