Seventeen-year-old Leelah Alcorn tragically ended her life Sunday, December 28, 2014 when struck by a tractor-trailer, leaving behind a suicide note on Tumblr. Slate writer and assistant editor, J. Bryan Lowder in his article, “” brings attention to the recent suicide of the transgender teen and its negative reflection of our current society; a family is too concerned with their religious morals and image within the community to recognize their daughter’s gender identity. In his article, Lowder includes the note left by Leelah (which has since been deleted along with her entire account by her parents), and briefly comments on the tragedy. Lowder’s decision to include the entire note verbatim was a wise choice, as he uses Alcorn’s own words to get his message across. Lowder quotes Alcorn as writing, “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,” as well as commenting that even after Alcorn’s death, her mother had publicly mis-gendered her in a Facebook post. While Lowder could have solely explained to us in his own words how unsupportive and degrading Alcorn’s parents were, he uses Leelah’s words to create an emotional appeal and show from her perspective how damaging her parents’ attitudes really were. Those unfamiliar with this school of thought may be interested to know that it basically boils down to a likely case of familial bullying. Lowder also writes that Alcorn’s death is “symptomatic of our society’s widespread transphobia, especially with regard to teens wishing to transition.” His point is that this tragedy is not isolated incident, but rather a reflection of an overwhelming hatred, disgust, and disproval of transgender individual within our country. Lowder is surely right about the dangers of transphobia within our society because, as he may or may not be aware, recent studies have shown that within a four-month study, 10 percent of the total 102 reported acts of violence committed against transgender people worldwide were suffered by transgender youth ( Listen to Leelah Alcorn’s Final WordsHuff Post). In addition, The Trevor Project has found that nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives, and one quarter report having made a suicide attempt. Making his point clear, Lowder writes, “It would have cost her family and community nothing to take the small step of calling her by her chosen name and honoring her gender identity when she asked for it, but their refusal has cost them everything.” In making this bold statement, Lowder expresses his own disgust with Alcorn’s family and community for not acknowledging her personal choices and implying that they are to blame for this tragedy. I agree with Lowder that the refusal to call her by her chosen name and honor her gender identity is in fact what cost Alcorn her happiness as well as her life. The death of Leelah Alcorn is a tragedy that reflects on modern transphobia; she will be remembered, by her proper name.
It was difficult enough responding to such a tragedy while trying to do it justice that I was not willing to compromise the seriousness of the topic by working in ridiculous vocabulary words. That being said, my vocabulary portion can be found below.
It is beyond sad that the only way for so many people, young people especially, to feel solvency from their problems is by taking their own lives. I wish there were more ways for people to feel absolved from their troubles. However, I know that there is still is much more than that one option, for nothing is irresolvable, even the prejudice faced by people like Leelah. If I am wrong, then there should be more ways to resolve such issues. I know that there are already organizations and charities dedicated to helping keep transgender youth safe in place, but in my lifetime, I would like to see the day when I can truly say that any case of prejudice or bullying is solvable.
It was difficult enough responding to such a tragedy while trying to do it justice that I was not willing to compromise the seriousness of the topic by working in ridiculous vocabulary words. That being said, my vocabulary portion can be found below.
It is beyond sad that the only way for so many people, young people especially, to feel solvency from their problems is by taking their own lives. I wish there were more ways for people to feel absolved from their troubles. However, I know that there is still is much more than that one option, for nothing is irresolvable, even the prejudice faced by people like Leelah. If I am wrong, then there should be more ways to resolve such issues. I know that there are already organizations and charities dedicated to helping keep transgender youth safe in place, but in my lifetime, I would like to see the day when I can truly say that any case of prejudice or bullying is solvable.