Leelah Alcorn | |
|---|---|
 Alcorn in 2014 | |
| Born | (1997-11-15)November 15, 1997 Kings Mills, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | December 28, 2014(2014-12-28) (aged 17) Warren County, Ohio, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide by vehicular impact |
Leelah Alcorn (November 15, 1997 – December 28, 2014) was an Americantransgender girlwhose suicide attracted international attention. Prior to her death, she had posted asuicide note to herTumblr blog about societal standards affecting transgender people and expressing the hope that her death would create a dialogue about discrimination, abuse, and lack of support for transgender people.
Born and raised inKings Mills, Ohio, Alcorn wasassigned male at birth and grew up in a family affiliated with theChurches of Christ movement. At age 14, shecame out as transgender to her parents, Carla and Doug Alcorn, who refused to accept her female gender identity. When she was 16, they denied her request to undergotransition treatment, instead sending her to Christian-basedconversion therapy with the intention of convincing her to reject her gender identity and accept the gender that she was assigned at birth. After she revealed her attraction toward males to her classmates, her parents removed her from school and revoked her access to social media. In her suicide note, Alcorn cited loneliness and alienation as key reasons for her decision to end her life and blamed her parents for causing these feelings.
Alcorn used Tumblr's queue feature to publish her suicide note online several hours after her death, and it soon attracted international attention across mainstream and social media.LGBT rights activists called attention to the incident as evidence of the problems faced bytransgender youth, while vigils were held in her memory in the United States and United Kingdom. Petitions were formed calling for the establishment of "Leelah's Law", a ban on conversion therapy in the United States, which received a supportive response from then-presidentBarack Obama. Within a year, the city ofCincinnati criminalized conversion therapy. Alcorn's parents were severely criticized formisgendering anddeadnaming her in comments to the media, while LGBT rights activistDan Savage held them responsible for their child's death, and social media usersharassed them online. They defended their refusal to accept Alcorn's identity and their use of conversion therapy by reference to their Christian beliefs.[1]
"When I was 14, I learned what transgender meant and cried of happiness. After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was. I immediately told my mom, and 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. If you are reading this, parents, please don't tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don't ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won't do anything but make them hate them self [sic]. That's exactly what it did to me."
Leelah Alcorn was born inKings Mills, Ohio, on November 15, 1997.[3] She described herself as one of several children being raised in a conservative Christian environment;[4][5] she and her family attended theNortheast Church of Christ inCincinnati, and she had been featured in a profile of that church published in a 2011 article inThe Christian Chronicle.[6] As of 2014, the family lived in Kings Mills.[7] According to her suicide note, Alcorn had felt "like a girl trapped in a boy's body" since she was four, and came to identify as atransgender girl from the age of 14, when she became aware of the term.[2] She rejected the name she was given by her parents. When she signed her suicide letter, she first wrote her post-transition name between parentheses, then wrote her deadname, applying strikethrough to it, and lastly wrote her surname ordinarily. According to her note, she immediately informed her mother, who reacted "extremely negatively" by claiming that it was only a phase and that God had made her a male, so she could never be a woman.[2][8] She stated that this made herhate herself, and that she developed a form of depression.[2]
Alcorn's mother sent her to Christianconversion therapists,[9][10] but Alcorn later related that there she only encountered "more Christians" telling her that she was "selfish and wrong" and "should look to God for help".[2] Aged 16, she requested that she be allowed to undergotransition treatment, but was denied permission: in her words, "I felt hopeless, that I was just going to look like a man indrag for the rest of my life. On my 16th birthday, when I didn't receive consent from my parents to start transitioning, I cried myself to sleep."[2] Alcorn publicly revealed her attraction to males when she was 16, as she believed that identifying as gay at that point would be a stepping stone tocoming out as a transgender at a later date.[11][12] According to a childhood friend, Alcorn received a positive reception from many atKings High School, although her parents were appalled.[12] In Alcorn's words, "They felt like I was attacking their image, and that I was an embarrassment to them. They wanted me to be their perfect littlestraight Christian boy, and that's obviously not what I wanted."[2][11] They removed her from the school and enrolled her as an eleventh grader at theOhio Virtual Academy online school.[11]
According to Alcorn, her parents cut her off from the outside world for five months as they denied her access to social media and many forms of communication. She described this as a significant contributing factor towards her suicide.[2] At the end of the school year, they returned her mobile phone to her and allowed her to regain contact with her friends, although by this time, according to Alcorn, her relationship with many of them had become strained, and she continued to feel isolated.[2] Two months before her death, Alcorn sought out help onReddit, asking users whether the treatment perpetrated by her parents constitutedchild abuse.[13][14] There, she revealed that while her parents had never physically assaulted her, "they always talked to me in a very derogatory tone" and "would say things like 'You'll never be a real girl' or 'What're you going to do, fuck boys?' or 'God's going to send you straight to hell'. These all made me feel awful about myself, I was Christian at the time so I thought that God hated me and that I didn't deserve to be alive."[14] Further, she explained, "I tried my absolute hardest to live up to their standards and be a straight male, but eventually I realized that I hated religion and my parents."[15] On Reddit, Alcorn also disclosed that she was prescribed increasing dosages of the anti-depressantProzac.[14] In concluding her post, she wrote, "Please help me, I don't know what I should do and I can't take much more of this."[16] Alcorn's computer was recovered near the site of her suicide. It contained conversations showing that she had planned to jump off the bridge that crossesInterstate 71 days before the incident, but then contacted acrisis hotline and, as told to a friend, "basically cried [her] eyes out for a couple of hours talking to a lady there".[17]
Prior to her death on December 28, 2014, Alcorn scheduled for her suicide note to be automatically posted on her Tumblr account at 5:30 pm.[11] In the note, she stated her intention to end her life, commenting:
I have decided I've had enough. I'm never going to transition successfully, even when I move out. I'm never going to be happy with the way I look or sound. I'm never going to have enough friends to satisfy me. I'm never going to have enough love to satisfy me. I'm never going to find a man who loves me. I'm never going to be happy. Either I live the rest of my life as a lonely man who wishes he were a woman or I live my life as a lonelier woman who hates herself. There's no winning. There's no way out. I'm sad enough already, I don't need my life to get any worse. People say "it gets better" but that isn't true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse. That's the gist of it, that's why I feel like killing myself. Sorry if that's not a good enough reason for you, it's good enough for me.[2]
She expressed her wish that all of her possessions and money be donated to a transgender advocacy charity,[2] and called for issues surrounding gender identity to be taught in schools.[2][10]The note ended with the statement: "My death needs to mean something. 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 say 'that's fucked up' and fix it. Fix society. Please."[2][10][18] A second post appeared shortly after; titled "Sorry", it featured an apology to her close friends and siblings for the trauma that her suicide would put them through, but also contained a message to her parents: "Fuck you. You can't just control other people like that. That's messed up."[2][19][20] An additional, handwritten suicide note reading "I've had enough" was found on her bed, but then thrown away by Alcorn's mother after police made a copy.[17]
According to police, on December 28 Alcorn was walking along Interstate 71 nearUnion Township when she was struck by a semi-trailer just before 2:30 am near the South Lebanon exit.[21] She died at the scene. It is believed that Alcorn walked three to four miles (five to six kilometers) from her parents' Kings Mills house before being struck.[7]
By the morning of December 31, her suicide note had been reposted on Tumblr 200,000 times.[10] Writing forThe Boston Globe, reporterMaura Johnston described it as a "passionate post".[10] The suicide note was later deleted after Alcorn's parents asked for it to be removed,[22] and the blog was made inaccessible to the public.[23] According to the family minister, the Alcorn family decided to hold the funeral privately after receiving threats.[24] Alcorn's body was reportedlycremated.[24] On April 30, 2015, the Ohio State Patrol ruled Alcorn's death a suicide.[17]
On December 28 at 2:56 p.m., Alcorn's mother, Carla Wood Alcorn, posted a public message onFacebook: "My sweet 16-year-old son ... went home to Heaven this morning. He was out for an early morning walk and was hit by a truck. Thank you for the messages and kindness and concern you have sent our way. Please continue to keep us in your prayers." [sic][11][12] Carla Alcorn's post, which included Leelah'sdeadname, was subsequently deleted. The Alcorn family publicly requested that they be given privacy to grieve in a statement issued by the Kings Local School District. In that statement, staff from Alcorn's former school,Kings High School, declared that "[Leelah] Alcorn was a sweet, talented, tender-hearted 17-year-old", adding that counselors would be made available to students affected by the incident.[11] A moment of silence was held in Alcorn's memory before a Kings High basketball game on December 30.[12]
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Some trans advocates publicly criticized Leelah’s mother, Carla, formisgendering and deadnaming her daughter in the Facebook post announcing the teenager's death.[25] Some individuals subsequentlydoxed and harassed Carla via her Facebook account "in revenge" for Leelah's death.[26] On Twitter, American LGBT rights activistDan Savage argued that Alcorn's parents should be prosecuted for their role in bringing about their daughter's death, commenting that through their actions they "threw her in front of that truck". He cited the successfulprosecution of Dharun Ravi following thesuicide of Tyler Clementi as a legal precedent for such an action.[27][28][29] He added that legal action should also be brought against the conversion therapists who had counseled Leelah, and suggested that the Alcorns should lose custody of their other children.[1][27]
Carla Alcorn responded to such criticism in an interview withCNN, stating: "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."[18][30][31] Although acknowledging that Leelah had requested transition surgery, Carla stated that she had never heard her child use the name "Leelah", before reiterating her refusal to accept her child's gender identity, adding "We don't support that, religiously."[18][30][31] She expressed concern that users of social media thought her to be a "horrible person", but defended her actions in dealing with her child, stating for example that she had banned internet access to prevent access to "inappropriate" things.[30] In an email to Cincinnati-based channelWCPO-TV, Leelah's father Doug Alcorn wrote, "We love our son ... very much and are devastated by his death. We have no desire to enter into a political storm or debate with people who did not know him. We wish to grieve in private. We harbor no ill will towards anyone. ... I simply do not wish our words to be used against us." [sic][6] Doug's message also included Leelah's deadname.
Writing forSalon,Mary Elizabeth Williams commented that "it would be cruel and inaccurate to suggest that Carla Alcorn did not love her child," but added that Carla's statement that she "loved him unconditionally" revealed "a tragic lack of understanding of the word 'unconditionally', even in death".[32]People magazine quotedJohanna Olson, Medical Director for the Center of Trans Youth Health and Development atChildren's Hospital Los Angeles, as stating that "Did Leelah's parents love her? Yes, I'm sure they did. Did they support her? No, they didn't. And that's a tragedy."[29]Mara Keisling, the Executive Director of theNational Center for Transgender Equality, was quoted as stating that the blaming of Alcorn's parents was unhelpful, adding, "Despite the great cultural and policy advances transgender people have made, there is still a lot of disrespect, discrimination and violence aimed at us. And being a child or a teenager of any kind today is very difficult."[8]
The day after Alcorn's suicide note was published online,Chris Seelbach, the first openly gay councilman onCincinnati City Council, shared it as part of a Facebook message in which he stated that her death showed how hard it was to be transgender in the U.S. His post was shared over 4,700 times and increased public awareness of the incident.[10][11][12] By December 30, Alcorn's death had attracted worldwide attention;[11] news outlets across the world had picked up the story, and thehashtag #LeelahAlcorn had topped Twitter.[11] According to British newspaperThe Independent, the incident "triggered widespread anguish and raised a debate about the rights of transgender people."[18] The U.S.-basedBoston Globe stated that it "served as a flashpoint for transgender progress in 2014,"[10] whileThe New Republic referred to it as having "sparked a national conversation about the plight of transgender kids and the scanty rights and respect our society affords them."[33]
On January 1, 2015, the Cincinnati-based LGBT rights group Support Marriage Equality Ohio hosted a vigil for Alcorn outside Kings High School.[6][34] A candlelight vigil inGoodale Park, Columbus was held on January 2 by a group called Stand Up 4 Leelah.[34] A further vigil was organized by both The Diverse City Youth Chorus in partnership with the Cincinnati chapter of theGay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center for January 10.[34] The vigil location at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center was moved to the Woodward Theater to make way for a larger setting.[35][36] The event was attended by over 500 people.[37]
A January 3 vigil was scheduled forTrafalgar Square in London; an organizer was quoted as saying that "[Alcorn's] death was a political death. When a member of our community is brutalised at the hands of oppression we must all fight back."[38] Those who spoke at the event included politicianSarah Brown and novelist and poetRoz Kaveney.[39] Marches were carried out in honor of Alcorn in bothNorthwest, Washington, D.C. andQueen Street, Auckland on January 10.[40][41][42] The same day, a candlelight vigil was held in New York City'sColumbus Circle.[43] A memorial protest against conversion therapy and in memory of Alcorn took place inLynchburg, Virginia, on January 24, 2015.[44]
Among the transgender celebrities who publicly responded to the incident wereJanet Mock,Andreja Pejić, andLaverne Cox,[45][46] while the musicianRay Toro released a song, "For the Lost and Brave," in dedication to Alcorn.[47][48]Joey Soloway, the writer of the television showTransparent, dedicated theirGolden Globe Award for Best Television Series to Alcorn.[49] DuringDiane Sawyer's interview withCaitlyn Jenner, which confirmed Jenner's transgender identity, Alcorn was mentioned by name and the message "Fix society. Please," was broadcast.[50] In June 2015, the singerMiley Cyrus founded theHappy Hippie Foundation, an organization to raise awareness of homelessness and LGBT issues among young people, partly in response to Alcorn's death.[51] To promote the organization, she released a new series ofBackyard Sessions videos, the second of which,Dido's "No Freedom" was dedicated to Alcorn.[52] After reading about Alcorn's death, British musicianDeclan McKenna was inspired to write a song, "Paracetamol," which was included on his debut albumWhat Do You Think About the Car? and discusses the media's representation of LGBT communities.[53] In 2015, the nationwide non-profit organization Ally Parents, operated by Stand with Trans, was created in response to Leelah's death.[54]
Carolyn Washburn, editor of the Ohio newspaperThe Cincinnati Enquirer, stated that the incident "raises important issues we hope will prompt conversations in families throughout our region."[11] Washburn had also received letters that derided the newspaper's use of Alcorn's chosen name in covering her death.[55] When contacted byThe Cincinnati Enquirer, Shane Morgan, the founder and chair of transgender advocate group TransOhio, stated that while 2014 witnessed gains for the trans rights movement, Alcorn's death illustrated how "trans people are still being victimized and still being disrespected", highlighting the high rate of transgender people who had been murdered that year.[11] Since the incident, TransOhio has received letters from parents of transgender children describing how Alcorn's death affected them.[30] Morgan stated that while he understood the anger directed toward Alcorn's parents, "there's no excuse for threats to the family."[30]
Allison Woolbert, executive director of the Transgender Human Rights Institute, informedThe Independent that Alcorn's case was "not unique"; the newspaper highlighted research from theUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that LGBT youth are about twice as likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual,cisgender teenagers.[1]Newsweek similarly placed Alcorn's suicide within its wider context oftransphobic discrimination, highlighting that theYouth Suicide Prevention Program reports that over 50 percent of transgender youths attempt suicide before the age of 20, and that theNational Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs recently published a report indicating that 72 percent of LGBT homicide victims in 2013 were transgender women.[46]Kevin Jennings of theArcus Foundation also situated Alcorn's death within wider problems facing young LGBT people. In his view, she became "an international symbol of the ongoing challenges faced by LGBT youth," adding that her death "reminds us of a basic lesson still being taught to young people across America: When it comes to gender identity, it's best to be cisgender; and when it comes to sexual orientation, it's best to be straight."[56]
Under the Twitter hashtag #RealLiveTransAdult, many transgender people posted encouraging tweets for their younger counterparts,[57] while other hashtags, such as #ProtectTransKids, and the term "Rest in Power", also circulated on Twitter.[58][59][60] AChange.org petition was set up calling for Leelah's chosen name to be included on hergravestone,[25] which gained over 80,000 signatures.[36] On January 6, Adam Hoover of Marriage Equality Ohio remarked that, since the request of having Alcorn's chosen name on her gravestone seemed "like a slim possibility", they would be raising money for a permanent memorial arranged as a bench, tree andcommemorative plaque.[36]
Under Ohio'sAdopt-a-Highway program, a group adopted the interchange of Interstate 71 South andOhio State Route 48—which was where Alcorn died—and dedicated it to her memory. As a result, theOhio Department of Transportation erected signs stating "In Memory of Leelah Alcorn" along the road.[61] Members of the group affixed a wreath to one of these signs; group member Lisa Oravec informed press that "We don't want Leelah to be forgotten... We want people in Cincinnati, or anybody driving down 71 to see the wreath. See the highway. If they don't know who Leelah is they'llGoogle it, educate it, and learn from what happened."[62] As of December 2018, the "Leelah Alcorn Highway Memorial" group continued to meet four times a year to clean that stretch of road.[62] The highway memorial formed the basis of a short documentary,Leelah's Highway, which was screened at the 2018 Cindependent Film Festival in Cincinnati's Woodward Theater.[63] Its creator, Elizabeth Littlejohn ofToronto, stated that "as a human rights activist who believes [in] the right for gender self-determination, I believe this story needed to be told."[64]
A Facebook group called "Justice for Leelah Alcorn" was established,[65] while a petition calling for "Leelah's Law," a ban on conversion therapy in the United States, was created by the Transgender Human Rights Institute to raise awareness of the psychologically harmful effects of such practices. By January 24, it had 330,009 signatures,[66][67][68] and was named the fastest growing change.org petition of 2014.[69] A second appeal demanding the enactment of "Leelah's Law" was posted to theWe the People section ofWhitehouse.gov on January 3, 2015, which garnered more than 100,000 signatures as of January 30.[70] In response to the petition, in April 2015, PresidentBarack Obama called for the banning of conversion therapy for minors.[71][72][73]
In December 2015, Cincinnati became the second U.S. city after Washington, D.C., to ban the practice of conversion therapy outright; council member Chris Seelbach cited Alcorn's suicide as an influence in the decision and stated that "she challenged us to make her death matter, and we're doing just that."[74] By October 2018, four cities across Ohio had banned conversion therapy, leading journalist Nico Lang to comment that "the Buckeye State has become an unlikely leader in banning conversion therapy at the local level."[75]
In her suicide note, Leelah pushed for a change in how transgender people are treated by others
The petition says the move would be respectful of the 17-year-old's wishes
