Teen’s Suicide Starts Transgender Awareness
Alcorn was a 17-year-old who posted her suicide note on Tumblr with plans of walking in front of a truck while mentioning her parents to blame. She speaks of being rejected socially as well as being forced into conversion therapy. She lived cautiously due to her strict Christian parents who banned her from social media and took her out of school, which furthered her depression.
As reported by Time, “She first identified herself as a gay male,” says Azalea Laverde, a classmate of Alcorn. “I just knew her as Josh Alcorn until she told me she was going to start going by ‘Leelah’ on her 17th birthday – nobody knew [she had come out as transgender].”
Alcorn’s suicide note brought forth a widespread transgender awareness movement as she said her “death needs to mean something”, as stated by People Magazine. “My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number… and fix it. Fix society. Please”.
Hundreds of thousands on social media sites supported Alcorn by trending “#TransLivesMatter” and creating petitions to allow her wishes to be fulfilled.
Alcorn’s mother responded to her daughter’s suicide through Facebook by stating her death was an accident and referring to Alcorn as Josh.
“We love our son Joshua very much and are devastated by his death,” her father stated, according to MSNBC.
As civil rights issues become more prevalent, I spoke to a fellow UHS Junior, Amari Johnson.
“I don’t think conversion therapy should be a thing. They don’t need therapy to try to make them ‘normal’” said Johnson. “A lot of people say suicide is a way out. I wish people wouldn’t think this way. Your life will get better. Suicide is not the answer. I think it’s sad how others can push an individual into thinking about taking their own life.”
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