Feinberg is convicted but walks free

[Shana A]

Feinberg is convicted but walks free
By Minnie Bruce Pratt on February 4, 2013

http://www.workers.org/2013/02/04/feinberg-is-convicted-but-walks-free/

Minneapolis — Transgender activist and author Leslie Feinberg declared in court here on Feb. 4 that she/ze was "not guilty" on a charge of third-degree gross misdemeanor (property damage) for spray-painting "Free CeCe Now" on the walls and pillars of the courthouse/jail in Minneapolis.

She/ze did it in solidarity with CeCe McDonald, an African-American transwoman who survived a violent racist, transphobic attack on the streets of South Minneapolis in June 2011, only to be jailed for manslaughter because she and her friends fought back.

For having spray-painted the message, which Feinberg did not dispute, the judge found hir "guilty," and asked if she/ze had anything to say before sentencing.

"I am a revolutionary journalist and member of the National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981," said Feinberg. "I am not guilty of any wrongdoing. I delivered the people's verdict on the jailhouse walls. The real crimes are going on behind the walls where CeCe McDonald is imprisoned.

[...]

The judge admitted that Feinberg's deed was an act of "civil disobedience."

The judge then stayed the imposition of any sentence for two years. During that time, Feinberg is on informal probation, meaning that if she/ze is not convicted of any additional "property damage" for 24 months, the third-degree gross misdemeanor charge will be dismissed.

[Dawn Heart]

Please explain the use of the following terms in the story: "She/ze" and "hir" these look awful suspicious as if they could be on the border of misgendering or transphobic, maybe?

[Elspeth]

Please explain the use of the following terms in the story: "She/ze" and "hir" these look awful suspicious as if they could be on the border of misgendering or transphobic, maybe?

If I'm not mistaken, Minnie Bruce Pratt is Les Feinberg's partner, though I haven't kept close tabs on them for some time.  Pratt's online bio, linked above, does say they were partners as recently as 2010, and they have been partners for at least several decades before that.  I would tend to trust, however, that Pratt is using terms that Feinberg agrees with (unless the editors of the Workers World edited the piece to conform to their own style sheet without consulting Pratt).  I know that Feinberg has gone through several layers of identifying over the years, and is not exactly a big fan of binaries.

Pratt's bio describes Leslie Feinberg as "transgender lesbian activist and writer, Leslie Feinberg" -- if I'm not mistaken, Feinberg did go through a period of preferring to be know as Les, but given hir prominence as author of Stone Butch Blues I seem to recall reading something a few years back suggesting that ze had changed somewhat on that.  It would probably be good to do some reading of Feinberg's more recent writings to get the whole story.

[Elspeth]

Feinberg's bio also uses these terms.