CeCe McDonald

Black transgender woman from Minneapolis who became an international symbol of trans resistance after being imprisoned for defending herself against a racist and transphobic attack. On June 5, 2011, McDonald and friends were verbally assaulted outside the Schooner Tavern in South Minneapolis; one attacker smashed a glass into her face, and in the ensuing fight Dean Schmitz was fatally stabbed. Initially charged with second-degree murder, she pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 41 months, which she served in men's prisons despite being a trans woman. She was released in January 2014 after approximately 19 months and has since become a prominent activist for trans rights and prison abolition.