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Leelah Alcorn, transgender teen, commited suicide

patchbunny

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patchbunny
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Didn't see this on here, so I figured I'd bring it up.

Leelah Alcorn, a 16-yr old transgender teen, committed suicide a few days ago by stepping into traffic. She felt there was no need to continue with her life given the lack of support she received from her family who disagreed with her sexuality due to religious views. Her suicide note was posted on Tumblr, outlining the troubles she faced and the reasons why she decided to end it all.

Her parents were far from helpful, as she notes:

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. That’s exactly what it did to me.

My mom started taking me to a therapist, but would only take me to christian therapists, (who were all very biased) so I never actually got the therapy I needed to cure me of my depression. I only got more christians telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help.
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And from there it got worse.

I formed a sort of a “**** you” attitude towards my parents and came out as gay at school, thinking that maybe if I eased into coming out as trans it would be less of a shock. Although the reaction from my friends was positive, my parents were pissed. They felt like I was attacking their image, and that I was an embarrassment to them. They wanted me to be their perfect little straight christian boy, and that’s obviously not what I wanted.

So they took me out of public school, took away my laptop and phone, and forbid me of getting on any sort of social media, completely isolating me from my friends. This was probably the part of my life when I was the most depressed, and I’m surprised I didn’t kill myself. I was completely alone for 5 months. No friends, no support, no love. Just my parent’s disappointment and the cruelty of loneliness.
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I wish Leelah could have found the help and support she needed. The treatment she received at the hands of her family makes me incredibly angry and sad, and I wish all this religious ******** would just go away so we could make the world a much better place.
 
It's a very difficult situation for all concerned: when your son announces he wants to live his life as a female. It's easy to condemn the parents in this case but it's a wrenching experience and one I'm glad I never had to wrestle with it.

Very sad and I'm sure all involved have suffered a lot and will continue to. Except Leelah Alcorn whose suffering is over.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
The parents will probably put Josh Alcorn on his headstone.
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I agree, which is incredibly ignorant. In this case it would probably be best to do a cremation and spread her ashes out. That way she doesn't have to be labeled as something she doesn't want to be.

I had read a bit about this before, but I hadn't combed through everything. Thanks for the link, and the thread.

Tragic, heartbreakingly tragic.
 
We really need to get this sorted as it is obvious that some people are born in the wrong body.
 
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news...rn-suicide-note-sparks-transgender-discussion

From the link in the OP.

Announcer: "As a rule we generally don't cover suicides, unless there are mitigating factors, like if the suicide was in a public place, or the result of bullying or discrimination."

This news broadcast is essentially implicitly stating that the parent(s) drove the child to suicide by bullying. Should we now expect that the religious leader who planted the idea that sexual identity is determined by god in the mind of the mother to proudly support her behavior as properly Christian? Or can we expect him to whine that religion is being denigrated by the news media? I'm fairly certain no apology is forthcoming.

What a mess these fundamentalists create for themselves by listening to frauds on pulpits.
 
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Arcade22 said:
Well then let's hope they get reincarnated into the "right" body this time and don't screw up again.
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Or, we could just let them live their current lives as the gender they identify or choose. Radical, I know, but we're supposed to tolerate Mormons and Rosicruxions and snake handlers and conservatives, so I think we can work it out to tolerate (yeah, simply tolerate.... not agree with.... not support.... simply tolerate) someone whose gender identity gives us pause to shudder, which is what the problem is. It isn't right or wrong in their Big Book of Moral Codes. It's icky. It's disgusting. They aren't like us.

As to reincarnation? Now you're getting into my area of the world. Ironically, and disgustingly, transgender people are not allowed to marry in Thailand. THAILAND??!! Probably the transgender capital of the world. Famous artists and politicians and billionaires live with and have affairs with transgender individuals. But the government, and not just the current neo-cryptic-fascist one, but also the previous progressive (red-shirt) one requires your national ID to marry and that will reflect your gender at birth - there is no way to legally change it. And "same gender" cannot marry in Thailand, and if they marry overseas the Thai government gives the marriage no legal standing. Trans "spouses" cannot inherit, cannot claim insurance or pension benefits... they don't exist.
 
patchbunny said:
I wish Leelah could have found the help and support she needed.
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I was talking about this very subject with a couple of trans women earlier today and it's hit them hard.

As far as I can tell, she posted in real time what she was doing but nobody was able to do anything to stop her.

I know there had been people reaching out to her, but with those parents, it obviously wasn't enough. What a waste.

It's not just religion, either.
 
Someone needs to draft an open-letter about committing a more considerate suicide. Jumping in front of traffic is immoral. Apart from the potential for bodily injury, you may traumatize the driver for life.
 
Tatyana said:
We really need to get this sorted as it is obvious that some people are born in the wrong body.
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I disagree, but not for the reasons that fundamentalist religionists would.
 
newyorkguy said:
It's a very difficult situation for all concerned: when your son announces he wants to live his life as a female. It's easy to condemn the parents in this case but it's a wrenching experience and one I'm glad I never had to wrestle with it.

Very sad and I'm sure all involved have suffered a lot and will continue to. Except Leelah Alcorn whose suffering is over.
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I've discussed this issue with my wife in the past, as we have a large number of kids and may well have faced issues like this. I have absolutely no hesitation condemning the parents. In fact I'm prevented by the MA in giving full vent to my feelings.
 
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lionking said:
I've discussed this issue with my wife in the past, as we have a large number of kids and may well have faced issues like this. I have absolutely no hesitation condemning the parents. In fact I'm prevented by the MA in giving full vent to my feelings.
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You can also (and probably more) condemn the religious beliefs and teachings (and teachers) that eventually led to this tragedy.
 
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AdMan said:
You can also (and probably more) condemn the religious beliefs and teachings (and teachers) that eventually led to this tragedy.
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Of course, but not to the same extent. The world is full of sensible people like me (and possibly you) who have seen through the crap peddled to them by religions and said "that's crap". My grandparents may have allowed priests and pastors to influence them in that way, but families today? They deserve condemnation. If I had my way, I'd pass laws to make this treatment of children (Christian therapists? For ****'s sake) illegal.
 
newyorkguy said:
It's a very difficult situation for all concerned: when your son announces he wants to live his life as a female. It's easy to condemn the parents in this case but it's a wrenching experience and one I'm glad I never had to wrestle with it.

Very sad and I'm sure all involved have suffered a lot and will continue to. Except Leelah Alcorn whose suffering is over.
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Yeah, it has to be the only thing worse than your child being born a daughter.
 
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