The suicide of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn has sparked a debate on social media about transgender issues.
The 17-year-old Kings Mills, Ohio, girl, born as Joshua Alcorn, was hit by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 71 on Sunday, and a suicide note was scheduled to post after her death.
The suicide note, posted on Tumblr, details Alcorn’s struggles with being transgender and her parents’ negative reaction and cutting her off from social media.
The note detailed the Alcorn’s experiences with Christian therapists “telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help.”
“When I was 16 I realized that my parents would never come around, and that I would have to wait until I was 18 to start any sort of transitioning treatment, which absolutely broke my heart,” the note said. “The longer you wait, the harder it is to transition. I felt hopeless, that I was just going to look like a man in drag for the rest of my life.”
The note ends: “Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better. My death needs to mean something. … Fix society. Please.”
Alcorn’s mother, Carla, posted a message on Facebook
after Leelah's suicide identifying her as Joshua. The message has since been deleted, The Boston Globe said.
Alcorn’s parents have been targeted by “Internet vigilantes” who have posted hateful comments on Facebook and
distributed their phone numbers, The Washington Post reported.
The story sparked a storm of comments on Twitter.
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