The death of a 17-year-old transgender Ohio woman has been called a "Matthew Shepard moment" in the fight for transgender equality. While Shepard was killed by others, and Leelah Alcorn took her own life Dec. 28, she first issued a call to action to make her life have meaning for the transgender community. The community, and mainstream media, have responded with calls to action.
Alcorn stepped in traffic and was killed by a passing semitrailer on southbound Interstate 71 in Union Township.
She left a gripping, emotional suicide note on her blog at Tumblr, detailing a troubled life, dominated by fundamentalist Christian parents who rejected their transgender child.
Her death has led to an international discussion/debate on transgender issues, especially around transgender youth.
Alcorn's suicide note was deleted from her Tumblr page a week after her death, after her parents demanded it. The blog was removed, including a further post after her death telling parents Carla and Don Alcorn: 'Mom and Dad: F*** you. You can't just control other people like that. That's messed up.'
A Tumblr spokesman confirmed to London-based MailOnline that they made the posts inaccessible because they were told to by the Alcorns, who have referred to Leelah as their "son" and used his birth name, Joshua.
More than 270,000 people have already signed an online petition asking President Obama to enact a law protecting transgender youth from conversion therapy. The petition on Change.org is called "Enact Leelah's Law to Ban Transgender Conversion Therapy," and is addressed to Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
In addition, there is a separate online petition that about 90,000 people have signed, urging the family to use her chosen female name (as opposed to her birth name) on her tombstone.
The funeral was moved and held privately after threats against the family, reported NBC News. Tim Tripp, the family minister at Northeast Church of Christ in Cincinnati, told NBC News that the funeral had been moved to a private location because "the times and dates had been publicized, and the family's received threats." Tripp would not specify what threats surrounded the funeral, other than to say the family had heard there would be "disruptions." Mourners arriving at the church Jan. 2 found a sign on the door announcing the service's postponement. Jeff Hartmann, of Hodapp Funeral Home, told NBC News that the private service was held, and that Alcorn's body was to be cremated.
In Alcorn's suicide note, she wrote, "Please don't be sad, it's for the better. The life I would've lived isn't worth living in … because I'm transgender. To put it simply, I feel like a girl trapped in a boy's body, and I've felt that way ever since I was 4. I never knew there was a word for that feeling, nor was it possible for a boy to become a girl, so I never told anyone and I just continued to do traditionally 'boyish' things to try to fit in."
Alcorn wrote that she learned what transgender meant at age 14 "and cried of happiness." But when she told her mom, "she 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," she wrote.
Carla Alcorn told CNN, "We don't support [being transgender], religiously, 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."
Gay-rights advocate Dan Savage has been extremely vocal in support of Leelah—and just as vocal against her parents. Savage tweeted, "If [gay college student] Tyler Clementi's roommate could be prosecuted—and he was—then the parents of #LeelahAlcorn can & should be."
Savage added, "#LeelahAlcorn's parents threw her in front of that truck. They should be ashamed—but 1st they need to be shamed. Charges should be brought."
When asked on Twitter what charges they should face, Savage replied: "Child abuse. Neglect. Reckless endangerment. Manslaughter."
Savage tweeted, "It risks incentivizing suicide—take revenge on hateful parents by killing yourself—but an example needs 2 be made of #LeelahAlcorn's parents.
"We know that parental hostility & rejection doubles a queer kid's already quadrupled risk of suicide—rejecting your queer kid is abuse."
In the 964-word suicide note, Alcorn said that she wanted 100 percent "of the things that I legally own to be sold and the money (plus my money in the bank) to be given to trans civil-rights movements and support groups."
Alcorn ended the note stating, "The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren't treated the way I was, [but rather], they're treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights. Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better. My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year."
Alcorn closed the note saying "Goodbye," and signed the letter (Leelah) Josh Alcorn—and drew a line through her birth name.
Alcorn's death sparked a social media frenzy, and it certainly hit hard in the LGBT community.
"The story is absolutely heartbreaking," said Anthony Nicodemo, an out gay high school basketball coach in New York. "All of our youth need to know they have [a] place to turn and people who will support them. The larger issues are consistently the adults. Education is truly needed on all levels. Hopefully this will prevent tragic stories like this in the future."
Christina Kahrl, a transgender sportswriter based in Chicago, said Alcorn's death was a "tragic situation [that] reflects so many failures. The virtues of faith and family usually provide love that most children take for granted. This was avoidable; transness shouldn't handicap anyone's capacity for empathy."
Brielle Harrison, a transgender female software engineer for Facebook, based in Northern California, was one of many who voiced her thoughts on Facebook. She wrote, "Please don't let bigotry, pride, lack of understanding and/or religion drive you to shun your transgender children to suicide or torment. This is something they are born with. It isn't a fad or a form of rebellion. They need your love and support."
Harrison added, "Neither God nor any camp or therapist will 'fix' this. If you want to believe that God put them there for a reason, then believe they are here to further civil rights and possibly to broaden your horizons."
Mara Keisling, executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, said she had a "heartbroken, not-again feeling" after hearing about Alcorn's death.
"What Leelah has given us is, a real way to individualize this crisis that we are having with transgender people, especially transgender youth [who are] being so marginalized, so alienated," Keisling said. "We know this happens so frequently. Sometimes the kids survive. Too often, they don't."
In late 2010, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force released a survey that revealed 41 percent of transgender people in the United States have attempted suicide.
"It is a huge epidemic that is so absolutely horribly outrageous," Keisling said.
Shannan Wilber, Esq.—the youth policy director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco—said in a statement, "We are deeply saddened by Leelah's tragic death."
Wilber added, "Like countless LGBT youth across this country, Leelah struggled with the anguish and isolation of navigating a world in which her core identity was erased and rejected. Despite the gains we have achieved in securing the equal rights of LGBT people in many arenas, too many of our children continue to suffer the ravages of intolerance and bigotry. They are rejected at home, bullied at school and condemned at church. They are subjected to discredited and dangerous interventions designed to change their core identities. They are abandoned by the institutions charged with ensuring their safety and well-being. It is impossible to make sense of the senseless loss of a child. But this tragedy strengthens our resolve to create a world in which all children are cherished and supported to become their authentic selves."
Masen Davis, executive director of the California-based Transgender Law Center, said in a statement that "[o]ur hearts weigh heavily from news of three recent suicides by trans youth in the Midwest. While others are celebrating the New Year, our thoughts and prayers are with youth across the country who are struggling for acceptance and wellbeing. Family and community support can make the world of difference in a transgender person's life.
"For those struggling, please know you're not alone and reach out for help—go to a support group, talk to a friend, or call a helpline like the Trevor Project Lifeline (866-488-7386). If you are a parent of a child who may be transgender, please let your child know you love and accept them—even if you may not yet understand them."
