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Leelah Alcorn's Death
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About
Leelah Alcorn's Suicide refers to the death of Ohio transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn, born Josh Alcorn, who committed suicide by stepping into traffic in late December 2014. The day after her death, her pre-scheduled suicide note was published via her Tumblr blog.
Background
Alcorn was hit by a tractor trailer on Interstate 71 approximately four miles from her Ohio home.[1] The suicide note[2] attributed the reasons behind her depression and eventual suicide to the rejection from her family who, according to Leelah "reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong," took her to Christian therapists who told her "that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help." After being isolated by her parents from her peers for 5 months, she began to have suicidal thoughts. The note ends with a plea for her property to be sold and her money to be put to "trans civil rights and support groups," and for her death to mean something. The post gained several hundred thousand notes on Tumblr.
Online Reaction
News of Leelah's death spread quickly on Tumblr and Twitter garnering solemn sympathy and outrage, with transgender activists such as Laverne Cox, Andreja Pejic, Janet Mock and indy video game developer Brianna Wu [3] commenting, and posts about the circumstances of her suicide gaining upwards of 200 thousand notes.
Transgender activist and writer Janet Mock, had her tweet widely shared on twitter, including being retweeted by Laverne Cox, actress from "Orange is the New Black" and transgender activist.
The story was picked up by several news outlets including Time[4], ABC news[5], The Daily Mail [6], Buzzfeed[7], USA Today[8], the Mirror[9], International Business Times[10], and Cincinnati.com[11].
"Rest in Power"
Rest in power is a phrase that's been associated with support for Leelah and her request that her death matter. Attributed to a tweet made by twitter user "Lionesse" it was mentioned in an article by the Washington Post[12] and has been adopted by many of the supporters and grievers since.
#RealLiveTransAdult
#RealLiveTransAdult is a hashtag started in the wake of Leelah Alcorn's suicide for transgender adults to share their stories and encourage younger transgender people. The phenomena was mentioned in an article by NBC news[13].
Change.org Petition
On December 30th a Change.org petition was started by the "Transgender Human Rights Institute" calling on President Obama and the US Congress to pass a law "to immediately seek a pathway for banning the practice known as 'transgender conversion therapy'" in order to protect transgender youth, and that they name it "the Leelah Alcorn Law."[14]
The petition gained over 100,000 signatures after one day.
remembering-lazerprincess
"remembering-lazerprincess"[15] is a tumblr blog dedicated to the remembrance of Leelah Alcorn and the support of transgender causes. It's url and name are in reference to the Leelah's username on Tumblr and it's background theme is also the same as her original blog. It is run by two Australian based mods, a self-described bi-gendered individual and a trans man and has gained upwards of one thousand followers in the days after the suicide note came forward.
Parent's Response
On December 31 CNN released its interview with Leelah's mother, Carla Alcorn.[16]
In the interview she stated that there hadn't been a service due to threats for protest, that her child had only talked to her once about being transgender, that she worried about the hateful messages directed at herself and her husband that made them out to be "horrible people," that their two other children were very sad about the loss of their sibling and that the first time she had heard the name Leelah was in the suicide note.
"We don't support that, religiously," Alcorn's mother said of her child's transgender identity. "But we told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no matter what. I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy."
Search Interest
External References
[1]Wikipedia – Leelah Alcorn
[2] Tumblr (via Wayback Machine) – Leelah Alcorn
[3]Twitter – Brianna Wu
[4] Time – Transgender Teen’s Death Sparks Outcry From Advocates
[5] ABC News – Leelah Alcorn: Transgender Teen's Reported Suicide Note Makes Dramatic Appeal
[6] The Daily Mail – Transgender teenager, 17, leaves heartbreaking suicide note blaming her Christian parents before walking in front of tractor trailer on highway
[7]Buzzfeed – A Transgender 17-Year-Old Left A Suicide Note On Tumblr Pleading “Fix Society”
[8] USA Today – Transgender teen: 'My death needs to mean something'
[9] Mirror – Transgender teen who committed suicide left heartbreaking note saying she would "never be happy"
[10] International Business Times – Leelah Alcorn's Transgender Suicide Prompts Response From Laverne Cox, Andreja Pejic, Janet Mock
[11] Cincinnati.com – Transgender teen: 'My death needs to mean something'
[12] Washington Post – Transgender teen who died of an apparent suicide: ‘Fix society. Please.’
[13] NBC News – 'Fix Society': Transgender Teen Leelah Alcorn Posted Plea Before Suicide
[14]Change.org – Enact Leelah's Law to Ban Transgender Conversion Therapy
[15] Tumblr – remembering-lazerprincess
[16] CNN – An Ohio transgender teen's suicide, a mother's anguish
Top Comments
Lycanroc
Dec 31, 2014 at 02:11PM EST
Island Sun
Dec 31, 2014 at 02:18PM EST in reply to