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My heart goes out to all touched by Leelah Josh Alcorn's life and apparent suicide. I pray for others to reach out to those who do understand and accept you. Please don't take your life, no mater how much you are hurting. I am a Christian who believes God is accepting and unconditional love is, unconditional.
May our sisters and brothers as transgender males or females be there for others.
I grieve for those who's faith is too small. Parents even thinking they are right must hurt at such a time.
JessieC
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In memory of Leelah Josh Alcorn
And sign the patition there about LeeLah to outlaw The teaching of trying to change Gender thinking!
The petition is messed up.
The code on the web site makes it look like a petiton but I could not use it.
Gwne
Just signed the petition
Does anyone know about the poor truck driver? Whoever was behind the wheel is probably traumatized by having killed her. He/She may need help of their own getting through the aftermath. In all the stories about her, I've just not seen anything about the driver of the semi.
{{Hugs}}
Where did you find the petition?
The one I found did not function
Here is the link for the petition
https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-enac...
And a giant cat picture :)
don't forget the Train drivers
A good friend of mine had been one for 20 years. After the 4th person to kill themselves in front of his train, he gave up and retired to Devon. Sadly the big 'C' took him a year or so later.
Indeed
This is what I had Ginny say to Adam in 'Ride On'
"What was it going to be? F*** up Southern Railways for a day, and a driver for life?"
I live near a very fast line, the London-Brighton, and one or two of the smaller local stations are regularly chosen for this. The trouble is that the despair overrides the consideration. Been there several times. Managed not to finish it off.
Leelah
I don't pray to God, because God made a lot of great mistakes, if he ever exists. However, I shall carve Leelah's name into my memory.
Sadly, in the greater scheme of things, Leelah's death won't matter. The governments will just say "This is proof that LGBT individuals are emotionally ill and require psychiatric help". The religious fanatics will say "Suicide is proof that LGBT people are unbelievers persuaded by the Devil, may you burn in Hell."
This makes a mark in halfway-decent people, but to the rest of the world, too set in their extremes, this will just become a misinterpretation in their own sick minds. That's why nothing will change. You need powerful people at very powerful positions to make such changes.
I hope that you are wrong ...
I believe that since the early 50's, especially in the last 10 years, conditions where I live have improved.
unconditional love
unconditional love does not mean that a person has to accept everything that another does for it to be unconditional. If your child was doing hard drugs, I don't think you would love him any less, but I doubt you would be pleased with his or her choices.
The parents didn't approve of the transgender or homosexual lifestyle. That is their prerogative no matter how much I might disagree with it. But just because they didn't approve, didn't mean they didn't love their child.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
I feel nothing for the parents
They drove her to suicide. They were blinded to her worsening condition and/or didn't care enough to try to find someone that could actually help. So while I agree its their prerogative to believe what they want, as parents they are obligated for the health and welfare of their child. They put their dogma over the needs of their child.
Frank
Please
Out of respect for the dead, Edit out Leelah's deadname from your post. Her name was Leelah Alcorn, there was no J in her name.
I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D
From her post on Reddit...
Sorry in advance for the long post, but I really need help.
Hi, I'm Leelah, 16 and MtF/dmab. Ever since I was around 4 or 5 I knew I was a girl, just like most of the lovely ladies on here, but I didn't actually understand that it was possible to successfully change genders until I was 14. As soon as I found out what transgender meant, I came out to my mom. 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, and it felt awful.
She then proceeded to tell my Dad without my consent, and they were both extremely angry with me. They never physically hurt me, but they always talked to me in a very derogatory tone. They 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. I cut myself at least once every couple days, and I was constantly thinking about suicide.
I wanted to see a gender therapist but they wouldn't let me, they thought it would corrupt my mind. The would only let me see biased Christian therapists, who instead of listening to my feelings would try to change me into a straight male who loved God, and I would cry after every session because I felt like it was hopeless and there was no way I would ever become a girl.
Eventually I lied to them and told them I was straight and that I was a boy, and then the derogatory speech and neglect started to fade. 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. I came out as gay in school, hoping to ease my friends into the whole LGBT thing before I came out as trans. Although my friends reactions were mostly positive my parents were beyond pissed. They took me out of public school, took away my phone and computer, and wouldn't let me on social media websites, so I was out of contact with any of my friends. I was like this for 5 months, completely and utterly alone. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone outside of church and I wasn't allowed to be with any of my friends, I just had to stay in my house and be quiet.
Eventually they came around and gave me my phone back, but they heavily monitored my facebook/twitter/tumblr profiles in case I did anything "stupid" again. Although I got my friends back I wasn't allowed to talk to them about anything LGBT.
Since then, I've been trying to hang out with my friends more and now that I have a car I have more freedom, but my parents never let me around my friends. I've gone out with my friends 3 times in the last year, because every time my parents cancel last minute and make me do something else. It's like they want me to have enough social interaction so I won't forget how to interact with humans, but they don't want me to actually have healthy relationships with people.
This feels horrible. The way I feel when I talk to my parents and the way my parents treat me like I'm subhuman and that my feelings aren't valid all make me think that I'm going through abuse, but I don't know if it counts or not. I'm not physically beaten or hit, but I feel like this is a different kind of abuse, maybe mental or verbal or something.
Please help me, I don't know what I should do and I can't take much more of this. I don't know if my problem is serious enough that I can contact authorities for help and even if it is I don't know how much that'll damage or help my current situation. I'm stuck.
In addition, her suicide note has been removed from her account at the request of the parents. Her parents insist they didn't have the money for counseling and wouldn't have sent her to a gender therapist because they strongly disagreed with that. I understand, but to isolate a child? Reparative therapy is against the law in some states now, and under review in others.
The sad thing for me, in an all too personal way, is that many deny that one can hold a faith in Christ and be transgender, which is not only disappointing, but wrong. I've been where she was, with only the hand of God and a thankful lack of resolve to end my life. And for those of us who never proceeded past the doors of our closets, I am filled with unmerited guilt over never acting upon what I knew in my heart to be true. And then torn because longing for the past somehow betrays the present and my family.
My therapist reminded me that if my father was willing to beat me and my sister with a belt so badly enough as to raise welts on our legs while yelling 'I'll teach you,' what would he have done to his 17 year old son had I come out as trans in 1968? Her parents may have been well-intended, but the effects of their choices remain the same.
In many states, it's illegal to advertise as a counselor or therapist, even if credentialed, if the 'therapy' is faith-based. In Virginia, where i was employed, it's considered unethical and a violation of professional standards. In other states, one may merely hang out a shingle and advertise as being a counselor. There's a medium to be struck, but not at the expense of medical and psychological facts. Neurological evidence via new advancements in MRI's that can be performed now instead of post-mortem that measure brain function. Brain chemistry and hormonal levels as decided evidence.
But the really frustrating thing is that, medical evidence aside, the girl was defined by the expectations of others. Even now, she will be laid to rest as her male self; the person her parents thought they knew. I have no doubt they loved her. And even in their statements, they've insisted they loved her unconditionally. It's not how they felt that matters, however, but how they sought to demonstrate that belief, and for that I am deeply saddened. I hope that things continue to inch forward into what can be an understanding world.
Love, Andrea Lena
Thank you...
Thank you Drea.
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Grrr!
There is no excuse for what they did. They lied about it, they tortured her, and now they are trying to cover it up. Let them burn!
I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D
I'm Just Wondering
Could the parents be charged with manslaughter?
No
Law is pretty established on that.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
A dear friend shared this....
Love, Andrea Lena
...
...crying...
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
here is a working link
Stop Conversion "Therapy"