[TRIGGER WARNING: TRANSMISOGYNY, TRANSPHOBIA, SUICIDE]
Leelah Alcorn is another in a long list of trans girls who have taken their lives. Her suicide note, left on her Tumblr account, is a window into the hopelessness of living as transgender in a community and household that doesn't accept you.
There's a common line fed to LGBTQAIP+ kids, that "it gets better" when you're an adult and you can move away from toxic environments. But it doesn't work like this for trans kids. Like young Leelah expressed in her note, the longer you wait to get on hormones, the more your body grows into the gender you were assigned at birth. Trans girls with non-accepting parents have to watch as their shoulders broaden, their hips narrow, and their voice deepens. I can't imagine how horrible that must be, but it's enough to drive many to suicide. And this is made worse by the knowledge that if they can't sufficiently "pass" as their real gender, they risk being murdered.
For trans girls, it only gets worse.
We can't stand by and let this happen. We need to demand hormone therapy coverage in all insurance plans, demand widespread acceptance, and condemn any parents that disrespect the gender (or lack of gender) of their children. There is a horrific epidemic of suicide in this country and no one even knows about it.
Justice for Leelah. Justice for all trans women and girls. Protect them at all costs. No tolerance for bigots.
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