Detroit meeting highlights CeCe McDonald injustice

On June 9, the Detroit branch of Workers World Party held a forum on “Bigotry, violence and the capitalist state: the double standard of the 1%.” The meeting, held during the month of Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans/Queer Pride, paid special attention to the case of Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald. Three speakers, all leaders of Detroit WWP and writers for this paper, addressed the current and historical context in which this obvious double standard of justice is applied on a routine basis.

“For LGBTQ people, state repression dates at least as far back to 1533, when England’s King Henry VIII instituted laws against ‘buggery,’” explained lesbian labor activist Martha Grevatt. “Private sexual acts were punished by hanging as late as 1821. Here [in what became the U.S.] persecution of LGBTQ people did not exist before the European conquest. In Virginia, Thomas Jefferson opposed execution, proposing castration for men and nasal mutilation for women.

“Anti-sodomy laws were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1986 Hardwick decision, which involved two Georgia gay men arrested in their home. The high court finally reversed Hardwick in 2003 in Lawrence vs. Texas — again two men were arrested for a private act. There were still 14 states that still had anti-LGBTQ laws; the penalty in Idaho was five years to life [in prison] and in Michigan 15 years for the first offense, life for the second.

“A majority of states have amended their constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage. State bigotry encourages hate crimes against the LGBTQ community,” Grevatt concluded.

Kris Hamel, a Workers World managing editor who has written on CeCe McDonald’s struggle, gave an update and talked about the importance of the case. McDonald is a young Black trans woman who was imprisoned for defending herself against white bigots.

“Originally charged with second-degree felony murder and facing a possible sentence of over 40 years in prison, CeCe agreed to the prosecution’s offer of pleading guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree manslaughter, with a prison term of 41 months,” reported Hamel.

“This was not an admission of guilt, or to say that CeCe had no right to defend herself. Every day across the U.S. thousands of oppressed people are forced to accept reduced time in prison for crimes they did not commit instead of risking a racist, sexist and/or anti-LGBTQ judge and jury that could sentence them to decades of incarceration.

“CeCe was sentenced on June 4 to 41 months in prison. As she begins to serve out her sentence for defending herself against racist and trans-hating thugs, the movement must grow to spread the word about this outrage and to demand her freedom.”

The final speaker, Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, addressed the racism of the capitalist state. “First we must reaffirm that, within the capitalist system under which we live, the state is designed to maximize the profit-making capacity of the ruling class,” Azikiwe explained. “What can never be overlooked is that the material basis for the formation of the U.S. was the forced removal and extermination of the Native peoples coupled with the importation and enslavement of Africans.

“Despite the existence of an African-American president and the presence of women in positions of authority within the state, racist and class-based violence continues unabated. If it had not been for the outcry of millions, led by the African-American community, there would never have been the arrest and charging of Trayvon Martin’s killer.

“Only when capitalism and imperialism are defeated and the construction of socialism has been realized will there be genuine stability and prosperity for all of humanity.”