My Life Needs to Mean Something #LeelahAlcorn
Being a member of the LGBT isn’t a cake walk, but is filled with obstacles and challenges that must be overcome by the individual. As a member of this community you are constantly discriminated against both directly and indirectly. For example, people express their opinion about how being attracted to the same sex is simply a phase and God makes no mistakes, forcing the individual to believe everything they feel and believe is false. Further, if you turn on the television or log on to social media you constantly see stories about how politicians and church activist groups are petitioning equal rights for homosexuals/lesbians, because their belief prohibits them from wanting equal rights for all. No one ever takes the opportunity to think about how their words affect or influence other people decisions, which is exactly why Leelah Alcorn, took her life.
On Dec. 28. At 2:30 a.m., Leelah Alcorn, was struck by tractor-trailer killing her and ridding her of the pain she felt while being alive. Shortly after her death a scheduled blog post appeared on her Tumblr account explaining why she took her life and was followed by an apology to specific people. Upon her death her family made a statement to the press referring to her as a him instead of what she wanted to be addressed as, blatantly disrespecting their daughter after her death.
In her suicide note she explained that she didn’t want to live as a boy and her parents forced her to be something she wasn’t. She mentioned how she wanted to begin treatment, because it would help in her transition into become a woman, because the longer she waits the harder it is for her to change. However, her parents refused to consent for her treatment, forcing her to remain someone she couldn’t identify with. In an act of rebellion she came out as gay to her friends and classmates, believing it would soften the blow when she made her announcement of being a transgendered woman. Like most children her friends and classmates were okay with her decision, however it infuriated her parents forcing them react selfishly. They took her out of public schools, seized her cell phone, and secured her social media accounts, ensuring she had no communication with the outside world. Leelah felt isolated and alone. Her parents believed their actions would change her ways, but it made her worse.
In the last two paragraphs Leelah explained how she her life would never amount to anything, would never be happy, because she couldn’t be who she truly wanted to be. She felt no one would love her for who she was and it would be better if she didn’t live, because she wouldn’t have to pretend to be something she wasn’t or live an agonizing life.
Family, friends, etc., don’t realize how they can affect an individual as the people who were in contact with Leelah didn’t realize. No one wants to go through life feeling as if they are going to be judged for being who they are. In our society the LGBT community, transgendered especially are struggling to obtain rights that should be afforded to everyone, but it seems as more and more people are committing suicide in hope to drive public awareness and further the movement in establishing equal rights for all.
Leelah in her last words expressed that the only way she would rest in peace is if something is done about the current discrimination and if people like her didn’t have to go through what she did. It’s time to take a stand, because no one should feel as if they need to take their life to prove a point or make a statement. How many more people will have to take their life in order for America to wake up? What will it take? Will a law finally be passed that provides greater protection for the LGBT community?
Don’t let Leelah’s death mean nothing. Do what it takes to ensure that everyone is afforded equal rights.
To read Leelah’s full suicide note go to this site: http://creativecommons.org/
