Hello everyone, welcome back to The Social Scientific Method. This is now my personal blog, or in other words, not associated with Clarkson anymore. Now that my Communication & Media internship is over, I have no excuse to write once a week. But since I still have this space, I might as well use it. Note that the following post discusses suicide and gender and sexuality conversion therapy. Reader discretion is advised. This girl. This beautiful, beautiful girl. Leelah Alcorn's death on December 28 reached all media outlets after her death was revealed as a suicide. She walked in front of a truck in a successful attempt to end her life. She had long been suffering from depression. On the morning after her death near Cincinnati, Chicago, Leelah's mother posted the following image on Facebook (quote via Buzzfeed): "My sweet 16 year old son, Joshua Ryan Alcorn went home to heaven this morning. He was out for an early morning walk and was hit by a truck. Thank you for the messages and kindness and concern you have sent our way. Please continue to keep us in your prayers." |
Yes, Leelah Alcon was transgender. And her parents refused to acknowledge her preferred gender even in death. In a news release on CNN, Carla Wood Alcorn emphasized that, "We [Leelah's parents] don't support that, religiously... But we told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no matter what. I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy." Leelah's suicide note was set to release the morning of December 28 after her death on Tumblr. However, her parents had the post taken down. But of course, it never left the internet.
Her suicide note revealed that her parents subjected her to gender conversion therapy. This is when gay, lesbian, bisexual, and gender-nonconforming individuals are put through conversion therapy to supposedly become straight or cisgender. The assumption behind organizations like the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity, a nonprofit organization in the practice of conversion therapy, is that members of the LGBT community are suffering from mental disorders. And those who are experiencing what they call "unwanted homosexual feelings" can use their services willingly to convert. | |
But the issue surrounding Leelah Alcorn's case is first, the inadequacy and questionable ethics of gender conversion therapy. Depression, self-hatred, and suicide are common in the patients of doctors practicing gender conversion therapy. The second issue the media picked up on was the lack of consent from the patient. As a minor, Leelah had no say in her own conversion therapy. Her parents chose the therapeutic methods for her. This is legal in 48 states besides California and New Jersey, making Leelah's aversion for her conversion therapy unheard as her parents made the choice for her.
Leelah knew that she didn't feel like a boy since she was four years old. At age fourteen, she came across the term "transgender" and exulted. She finally understood who she was after years of confusion. But according to her suicide note, her mother "...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." She was taken to only Christian therapists who told her she was being selfish for her choice to defy God's given gender and should accept God into her life. This obviously didn't help her depression or confusion about gender identity. She hoped that her parents would agree to transition treatment which would help her physical expression of gender by eliminating things like facial hair, a low voice, and eventually her male genitalia if she chose to. But when she brought up the topic on her sixteenth birthday, her parents refused her request to begin transitioning. In rebellion, Leelah came out as gay and said that she liked men at school where she was still called Joshua. While her friends accepted her coming out, her parents saw it as an attack on their image and his status as a "perfect little straight Christian boy". In response, Leelah's parents took her out of school and removed any form of communication with the outside world. She spent five months separated from her friends, her depression growing. Even when Leelah was allowed onto social media and back into school after the end of the 2013-14 school year, she became more lonely as her friends abandoned her. Since she believed that she would never be allowed to transition, Leelah planned her suicide and set her suicide note to be published after she killed herself.
Leelah knew that she didn't feel like a boy since she was four years old. At age fourteen, she came across the term "transgender" and exulted. She finally understood who she was after years of confusion. But according to her suicide note, her mother "...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." She was taken to only Christian therapists who told her she was being selfish for her choice to defy God's given gender and should accept God into her life. This obviously didn't help her depression or confusion about gender identity. She hoped that her parents would agree to transition treatment which would help her physical expression of gender by eliminating things like facial hair, a low voice, and eventually her male genitalia if she chose to. But when she brought up the topic on her sixteenth birthday, her parents refused her request to begin transitioning. In rebellion, Leelah came out as gay and said that she liked men at school where she was still called Joshua. While her friends accepted her coming out, her parents saw it as an attack on their image and his status as a "perfect little straight Christian boy". In response, Leelah's parents took her out of school and removed any form of communication with the outside world. She spent five months separated from her friends, her depression growing. Even when Leelah was allowed onto social media and back into school after the end of the 2013-14 school year, she became more lonely as her friends abandoned her. Since she believed that she would never be allowed to transition, Leelah planned her suicide and set her suicide note to be published after she killed herself.
Leelah specified that she wanted her belongings to be sold and the proceeds to be donated to a transgender advocacy group. She also made a plea to other parents not to tell their kids that they were wrong for identifying as transgender. She asked parents, "please don’t tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don’t ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won’t do anything but make them hate them self. That’s exactly what it did to me." Millions of people re-Tweeted stories about Leelah as news outlets and blogs jumped on the story of a young transgender girl being shamed into depression and her subsequent suicide. Unfortunately, Leelah's death is not an uncommon occurrence amount young trans people. In this Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, 25% of surveyed trans youth reported having already attempted suicide (though there are few sources for transgender suicide rates). However, Leelah's death turned many American voters and leaders onto the subject of gender conversion therapy. A petition to enact Leelah's Law was released shortly after her death, a law that will ban conversion therapy nationally. It currently has about 105,000 signatures, 5,000 more than the required 100,000 for the petition to be brought to Congress. Leelah speaking out against her parent and their transphobia spawned real notice and debate that will resonate far into 2015. |
And if Leelah's Law is passed, conversion therapy could be banned in the USA. The community on Tumblr already memorialized Leelah with drawings and quotes from her suicide. What Leelah Alcorn didn't know when she committed suicide was that her experience would become an icon for the trans awareness movement.
The Social Scientific Method is the personal blog of Social Documentation student Emily Baker published when she finds something interesting, annoying, or just plain cool. Keep up to date on her posts and read on!
CNN's story on Leelah Alcorn:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/31/us/ohio-transgender-teen-suicide/
Buzzfeed's story on Leelah Alcorn:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jobarrow/a-transgender-17-year-old-left-a-suicide-note-on-tumblr-plea
Local story on Leelah Alcorn:
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/warren-county/joshua-alcorn-kings-mill-teen-killed-on-i-71-remembered-as-sweet-talented
Leelah Alcorn's suicide note:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150101052635/http://lazerprincess.tumblr.com/post/106447705738/suicide-note
Definition of conversion therapy:
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Conversion_therapy.html
Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity:
http://www.narth.com/
States with attempted/successful bans on conversion therapy:
http://www.nclrights.org/bornperfect-laws-legislation-by-state/
Tweets about Leelah Alcorn:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LeelahAlcorn&src=tyah
Center for Disease Control and Prevention study:
http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm
Founding psychiatrist of conversion therapy retracts stance on the practice:
http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2012/04/11/psychiatrist-retracts-2001-claim-exgay-programs-can-work
Resources for transgender youth:
http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/transgender.htm
The Social Scientific Method is the personal blog of Social Documentation student Emily Baker published when she finds something interesting, annoying, or just plain cool. Keep up to date on her posts and read on!
CNN's story on Leelah Alcorn:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/31/us/ohio-transgender-teen-suicide/
Buzzfeed's story on Leelah Alcorn:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jobarrow/a-transgender-17-year-old-left-a-suicide-note-on-tumblr-plea
Local story on Leelah Alcorn:
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/warren-county/joshua-alcorn-kings-mill-teen-killed-on-i-71-remembered-as-sweet-talented
Leelah Alcorn's suicide note:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150101052635/http://lazerprincess.tumblr.com/post/106447705738/suicide-note
Definition of conversion therapy:
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Conversion_therapy.html
Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity:
http://www.narth.com/
States with attempted/successful bans on conversion therapy:
http://www.nclrights.org/bornperfect-laws-legislation-by-state/
Tweets about Leelah Alcorn:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LeelahAlcorn&src=tyah
Center for Disease Control and Prevention study:
http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm
Founding psychiatrist of conversion therapy retracts stance on the practice:
http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2012/04/11/psychiatrist-retracts-2001-claim-exgay-programs-can-work
Resources for transgender youth:
http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/transgender.htm