Leelah Alcorn, transgender girl, kills self due to bigoted parents

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

http://www.inquisitr.com/1715736/transgender-teen-leelah-acorn-kills-himself-by-walking-in-front-of-semi-truck-blames-christian-parents-in-viral-suicide-note/

Shame the title of that article misgenders her despite the rest of the article calling her by the correct pronouns. This is tragic.

"Fix society. Please. Goodbye, Leelah Josh Alcorn."

[Sol]

Why are people such bigots?

This is horrible

[Antonio the Sixth]

Ugh...

[afleitch]

I read this story earlier and it touched my conscience more than I thought it would. There is a great sadness not only in the suicide, but in the fact that she felt she needed to make this post appear after it had happened because she knew her family would never tell the truth. And that's what's very sad. Christianity as practiced can often nothing more than an ideology to serve the ego; securing your own  salvation. If other people suffer as collateral damage, less you be seen by either your god or your community to care about someone a little too much who is outside your own in-group or contradicts whatever stupid some passage says, well that's what you have to do. Me me me. You'll find plenty of people to tell you you're right anyway.

So family; flesh and blood get's subverted to your own selfish desire to stay on the right side of a superstition. And this is what happens. And when people ask for help, you're more concerned with helping and affirming yourself than you are with helping them.

She had issues, and she had other routes to take but if you suffer from depression then you cannot see the wood for the trees. Adulthood is a lifetime away, even when you're 17. It's a tragedy.

[JerryArkansas]

It is a hard story to read.  When I first heard about it I felt so horrible.  I found something after this happened which I thought people, especially those bigotes should see.



So, pick and chose what parts of the bible you want, you make yourself look like the hypocrite you actually are.

[Miles]

Yikes.

[user12345]

Fox News angle on this story should be interesting. What a horrible household she had to survive in. RIP.

[Brittain33]

She had issues, and she had other routes to take but if you suffer from depression then you cannot see the wood for the trees. Adulthood is a lifetime away, even when you're 17. It's a tragedy.

What is particularly upsetting is that, to her, she couldn't wait. Her body was maturing in a direction that was making her eventual transition harder with every day.

[Mr. Reactionary]

despicable scumbag parents.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Christianity needs to be destroyed.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Christianity needs to be destroyed.

Ignorant statement. Christianity is an excuse for poor treatment, not the reason.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Christianity needs to be destroyed.

Ignorant statement. Christianity is an excuse for poor treatment, not the reason.

Obviously Snowstalker's wrong, but it's kind of just covering our own asses as Christians to reduce it to that and refuse to admit that Christianity can genuinely be a contributing factor to this sort of thing that we genuinely have reexamination and reform that we desperately need to do, isn't it?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Most suicides are tragedies and this is no exception.  I understand and sympathize with what led to the decision but I strongly wish that at the very least a different method had been chosen, even if the alternatives to suicide were not available and/or acceptable to her.  Involuntarily involving another person in your suicide is a horribly selfish thing to do.  That trucker will likely wonder for the rest of eir life if there was anything that ey could have done to avoid having eir truck be the instrument of another person's death.

[© tweed]

Most suicides are tragedies and this is no exception.  I understand and sympathize with what led to the decision but I strongly wish that at the very least a different method had been chosen, even if the alternatives to suicide were not available and/or acceptable to her.  Involuntarily involving another person in your suicide is a horribly selfish thing to do.  That trucker will likely wonder for the rest of eir life if there was anything that ey could have done to avoid having eir truck be the instrument of another person's death.

I do support universal access to suicide clinics.  we do make it far too difficult for those who seek suicide to succeed, leading to collateral damage with many of the methods that don't involve guns or poisonings.

[memphis]

Most suicides are tragedies and this is no exception.  I understand and sympathize with what led to the decision but I strongly wish that at the very least a different method had been chosen, even if the alternatives to suicide were not available and/or acceptable to her.  Involuntarily involving another person in your suicide is a horribly selfish thing to do.  That trucker will likely wonder for the rest of eir life if there was anything that ey could have done to avoid having eir truck be the instrument of another person's death.

I do support universal access to suicide clinics.  we do make it far too difficult for those who seek suicide to succeed, leading to collateral damage with many of the methods that don't involve guns or poisonings.

Guns are extremely available here in the US though.

[© tweed]

Most suicides are tragedies and this is no exception.  I understand and sympathize with what led to the decision but I strongly wish that at the very least a different method had been chosen, even if the alternatives to suicide were not available and/or acceptable to her.  Involuntarily involving another person in your suicide is a horribly selfish thing to do.  That trucker will likely wonder for the rest of eir life if there was anything that ey could have done to avoid having eir truck be the instrument of another person's death.

I do support universal access to suicide clinics.  we do make it far too difficult for those who seek suicide to succeed, leading to collateral damage with many of the methods that don't involve guns or poisonings.

Guns are extremely available here in the US though.

in some places, and for some people.  I'd have to jump through a few years of bureaucratic hoops before I could legally buy and possess a handgun in NY -- and forget about NYC.  this young woman was a minor, and though I'm ignorant of OH gun laws, she probably would not have had legal ability to buy a gun; probably did not have connections to the sort of people that could allow her to illegally obtain a gun; and may not have had any access to the amount of money needed to do any of this.

so her moral culpability for truck-jumping is quite minimal, IMO.  ideally she'd have darknetted a whole bunch of heroin or cyanide, but this is a lot to ask of someone who felt surrounded by quicksand in all directions.  

[afleitch]

so her moral culpability for truck-jumping is quite minimal, IMO.  ideally she'd have darknetted a whole bunch of heroin or cyanide, but this is a lot to ask of someone who felt surrounded by quicksand in all directions.  

^^^

You can't really judge someone who is emotionally and mentally suffering for killing themselves in a manner that we might not consider 'rational'

Christianity needs to be destroyed.

Ignorant statement. Christianity is an excuse for poor treatment, not the reason.

Obviously Snowstalker's wrong, but it's kind of just covering our own asses as Christians to reduce it to that and refuse to admit that Christianity can genuinely be a contributing factor to this sort of thing that we genuinely have reexamination and reform that we desperately need to do, isn't it?

I think the problem isn’t that Christianity won’t address these issues. It is, but in the completely opposite direction to which it should be doing so at least in a global sense. The end result of that is both sinister and tragic. If anyone talks about ‘Christianity’ then they have to appreciate that global Christian thinking on these matters is regressive. In fact it’s more regressive than it has probably ever been at any point in the history of Christianity because it has been decided that it is ‘now an issue.’

Given that Christian thought still hasn't completely grappled with the concept of women, let alone trans issues, it will probably take some considerable time.

'God made you to be what that book tells you, you should be and if you aren't that way then it's your fault; you're a sinner, you're immoral, you're possessed, you're wrong, go pray, go fix yourself, go repent' is still a very powerful message whether it's Georgia or Gambia. Christianity in general has never allowed itself to develop a fully formed and fully informed position on sexuality and gender. It is perversely concerned with the physical and the carnal and the need for uniformity in how those facets are presented and utilised.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I think the problem isn’t that Christianity won’t address these issues. It is, but in the completely opposite direction to which it should be doing so at least in a global sense. The end result of that is both sinister and tragic. If anyone talks about ‘Christianity’ then they have to appreciate that global Christian thinking on these matters is regressive. In fact it’s more regressive than it has probably ever been at any point in the history of Christianity because it has been decided that it is ‘now an issue.’

Oh, definitely. The sudden spike in number and severity of homophobic statements out of the Catholic Church starting around the 1970s or 1980s--statements frequently written in a register of hysteria that would be funny if it weren't so sad, indicating a sense of urgency and more or less blind determination to address something allegedly 'new' and allegedly 'scary' that, reading these documents, the Church seems to think has just now appeared on its radar--as against previous centuries of (at least by comparison) not really caring to address the subject, clearly demonstrates that.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

There are denominations that have historically had or have recently developed understandings of sexuality that are both well-grounded and down-to-earth with respect to empirical reality and intellectually responsible and morally robust with respect to theology. The Quakers come to mind, as do certain types of Congregationalists and Methodists. (I'd love to be able to say that Anglicans come to mind as well but I can't say that in good conscience because not only does the Anglican Communion has a whole have no coherent understanding of sexuality--regardless of whether or not that understanding is a good one, even--many of the provinces don't have one either, and many of those that do have understandings that are insanely awful.) We--'we' being the rest of Christianity--could all learn something from these understandings, even if not all of the specifics of their conclusions are directly translatable into a non-Quaker or non-Congregationalist or non-Methodist or non-whatever else theological and ecclesiastical context. The problem is of course that these denominations are mostly present in parts of the world that are already more or less 'liberal' on these sorts of issues, and aren't situated in the directions in which Christianity is really still growing.

[Lambsbread]

This one hit me really hard after I read her suicide note. And it should be noted that this statement is so important:

Christianity is an excuse for poor treatment, not the reason.

but at the same time, this happens far too often under the guise of adhering to religion.

It's also pretty sad how people are reacting on other websites. I've read Yahoo, Sodahead and Facebook comments and the general reaction seems to be somewhere in between "that poor truck driver that hit this selfish person" and "he was a boy, not a girl, and his parents had every right to use therapy to heal their son" which made me sick just typing.

RIP, something has to give eventually. This can't keep happening.

[Representative MJM]

This story really upset me very much. If you aren't ready to love and accept your child unconditionally, then you aren't ready to have a child.
Now, I'm not going to pretend that I know the first thing about what it is like to be a transgender person. In an ideal society, the number of transgender people that exist would be much more limited because the only people who would want to change genders would be those who want to change for biological reasons. In our society, though, the main reason for changing genders seems to be that people believe that their biological sex at birth does not match up with their gender identity. Gender is a human construct. It is a sad reflection on our society that we force people to change genders because they cannot fit into the preassigned characteristics that are expected of them from birth. A woman can be assertive and sporty and a man can sensitive and wear makeup. My point is, we don't need gender identities at all, whether transgender or cisgender. However, we were born into a society that has forced it upon us, and there are thankfully many people trying to fight it. Even so, many people continue to support the archaic traditions of masculinity and femininity. Many of these people are the same ones who refuse to accept transgender people into society, which is ironic considering that the transgender community is just trying adhere to the societal norms of these people.
As I said, the ultimate goal is to create a "gender-less" but not "sex-less" society where people do not feel obliged to change themselves to fit other people's predefined boundaries. In the meantime, we must accept transgender individuals for who they are, because they know better than anyone else, including me, what is best for them.

[Vega]

Bigots continue to be bigots.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Disgusting people.  They cut her off from the world because they didn't like who she was?  Despicable.  I hope the state prosecutes these a-holes for the emotional distress they put their daughter through.  I don't see how this is not abuse.

[afleitch]

The only thing you leave behind when you die is what people think of you. You can do your best to be the master of that in life; if you're good you hope that people will remember that you are good. But it's never entirely in your control. In this instance it is likely that she will be buried as a he, in clothing that she would not have liked and in a manner that is disrespectful to her life and to who she was as a person. That is the ultimate tragedy and it befalls many people; if you are eulogised as a person that you were not, then it's almost as if you were never 'you' at all.

The other issue related to this, is the general disregard for the rights of children in society. Children have rights as people independent of and contrary to the rights or wishes of their parents. This is a normal part of human development.  It is unfortunate that their wishes, even when expressed, can often be disregarded particularly on the cusp of adulthood. 

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

The only thing you leave behind when you die is what people think of you. You can do your best to be the master of that in life; if you're good you hope that people will remember that you are good. But it's never entirely in your control. In this instance it is likely that she will be buried as a he, in clothing that she would not have liked and in a manner that is disrespectful to her life and to who she was as a person. That is the ultimate tragedy and it befalls many people; if you are eulogised as a person that you were not, then it's almost as if you were never 'you' at all.

The other issue related to this, is the general disregard for the rights of children in society. Children have rights as people independent of and contrary to the rights or wishes of their parents. This is a normal part of human development.  It is unfortunate that their wishes, even when expressed, can often be disregarded particularly on the cusp of adulthood. 

Ugh.  I forgot about this.  She was 17 so her POS parents will put her in a tux and send her off to Jesus... Absolutely horrifying.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

Just terrible. We can honor her memory by unconditionally supporting trans individuals in our lives and voting for legislation like ENDA or ending the heinous existence of conversion camps.

The cognitive dissonance of the fundie parents is interesting  though: they believed that their daughter, who was going against god's will, identified as atheist, and committed suicide, "went home to heaven." They pushed her to suicide by pushing one section of the Bible and then completely ignore another.