https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:40:32 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2006939 Fri, 02 Jan 2015 15:47:13 +0000 daniellemybelle 2006939@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: @erinpye: I agree with what you both are saying and I apologize for a short post. I was on my phone and that was my first thought, and I wanted to just get it out.</p> <p>I'm not saying that the attention to this is bad, or that it will not serve some really important purposes. I think the positive outcomes working toward Leelah's request to "fix it" are wonderful. </p> <p>What I meant, though, is that there have been times in the past when very publicized suicides inspired others to do the same because they identified with the person who took their life and perhaps wanted the same outcomes - for people to feel sorry for how they treated them, to become a symbol, to be memorialized, etc. That's what spurred the "It Gets Better" campaign, actually. Suicide has been proven by data to be contagious and that's just weighed heavily on my heart.</p> <p>I truly hope that instead of anyone following suit, parents of GLBTQ kids realize the treasures they have and hopefully save their beautiful children's lives. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2005319 Thu, 01 Jan 2015 13:58:05 +0000 erinpye 2005319@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Katrocap: thanks very much for sharing this- I just signed both the Whitehouse one and the change.org one, and had DH do the same. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2005184 Thu, 01 Jan 2015 12:16:47 +0000 Katrocap 2005184@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The site below has links to change.org and White House petitions to ban conversion therapy, in honor of Leelah:<br /> <a href="http://www.leelahslaw.com/sign-the-petitions/" rel="nofollow">http://www.leelahslaw.com/sign-the-petitions/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2005159 Thu, 01 Jan 2015 11:49:17 +0000 BSB 2005159@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My heart breaks for her. This story is so sad. It really could have been prevented. RIP Leelah! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004963 Thu, 01 Jan 2015 02:19:09 +0000 simplyfelicity 2004963@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: Geez...wish I hadn't read those! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004961 Thu, 01 Jan 2015 01:57:49 +0000 MrsSCB 2004961@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: ugh, reading comments always ends up so depressing :-( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004923 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 23:32:35 +0000 littleblessings 2004923@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That is beyond sad. I feel like as parents we should not be judgemental of our kids. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004909 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 23:20:36 +0000 mrbee 2004909@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The comments on that heavy.com article were shocking and horrific!! Very eye opening... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004889 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 22:34:55 +0000 Katrocap 2004889@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This story is so tragic and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It breaks my heart to think about the amount of pain Leelah must have been experiencing. She was 17, only a year away from being a legal adult, and she even acknowledges that people say, "it gets better," but she couldn't imagine it getting better for her. I hope that her story can at least inspire all parents (of transgender and cisgender kids) to love and accept their children as they are. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004864 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:58:50 +0000 mrsjazz 2004864@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Applesandbananas: It's sad all around. I know this family is mourning the loss of the child they thought they knew and that's got to be hard. It's also got to be hard to be faced with so much criticism and I hope no one protests the funeral. I just don't see the two experiences as equal when a child is dead. </p> <p>It's also very hard to read and continue to read these type of stories. The world would be a much better place if we just loved each other for who we all truly are and not who we want each other to be. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004852 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:45:01 +0000 Applesandbananas 2004852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: I wonder if their decision to try conversion therapy stemmed from a desire to make their child's life easier, believing that not being transgendered would be easier. Maybe they believed the therapy would work and that their child would no longer have to bear the emotional toll that could come with being transgendered. We will never know, but I pray for peace for the family and loved ones. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004848 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:41:05 +0000 coopsmama 2004848@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: Well, obviously you've left that group if you wouldn't handle it the same way they did. (And for that I say -- good for you! Me too.) I agree with your assessment of the situation, too. I just think overall it is sad that folks like this are so enslaved by their religious system and friends that they aren't able to just LOVE. The whole thing is just really, really sad. There's nothing really else to say. :( </p> <p>And actually, the whole time I read the above article I could only think of the son of my pastor growing up. He has come out as gay and moved away but no one in their home or community will really address it so he lives far away and leads his own life. I'm just terrified that he will go down a suicidal path someday. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004846 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:40:43 +0000 erinpye 2004846@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: my hope is that it instead causes parents of trans kids to realize the serious life or death risk, and encourages them to make sure their children know how deeply they are loved and supported. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004842 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:38:33 +0000 Applesandbananas 2004842@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjazz: even though it's not what you'd do in that situation, I think they truly believed conversion therapy was the right choice for their child. Was it? Probably not. But I think they wanted to do what they thought was right. At the end of the day, a child is dead, parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, friends, etc. are mourning and there are a lot of people tearing them and their decisions to shreds and it's sad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004835 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:35:10 +0000 erinpye 2004835@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@coopsmama: I get what you're saying to an extent, however, I grew up in the same Christian culture, and would never do what they did. </p> <p>I do agree that doxxing and harassing the parents is unacceptable, and I don't doubt they are grieving terribly. But, I believe they are at least in part, as evidenced by the mother's word choice, grieving for the boy they wanted, never having gotten to know the girl they had, and that truly breaks my heart. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004832 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:33:09 +0000 mrsjazz 2004832@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Applesandbananas: I'm not equally horrified. Leelah is dead. I won't attack her parents but they were wrong. You can have different beliefs but still respect your children. They didn't have to pay for her to transition but they also didn't have to send her to conversion therapy. </p> <p>@daniellemybelle: I don't know, I think it needs attention. The suicide rate is already extremely high in the transgender community--this is an issue that needs attention so that we can put a stop to it or as Leelah said in her suicide note so we can "say that's fucked up and 'fix it'." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004829 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:29:59 +0000 coopsmama 2004829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Applesandbananas: @erinpye: @MrsSCB: I do think I understand what applesandbananas was saying. I grew up in a similar type religious group and these parents handled it exactly the same way it would have been handle with people I know. These type of parents would never intentionally be abusive to any of their kids and I guarantee they would say that they loved their child very much. But in their religious culture that is absolutely the way this would be handled - putting religious beliefs before their child. I'm also not saying that I think the way they handled it was right -- I don't. I'm a Bible believing Christian and the way this was handled by the parents was in no way a New Testament Christian response. Unfortunately many of these types tend to read into the Bible or pick and choose what they want to enforce from the OT even though they themselves would say we live under the NT and an age of grace. It's incredibly sad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004827 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:25:23 +0000 daniellemybelle 2004827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What terrifies me the most is that suicide is contagious and the attention this is getting might cause at risk kids (or hell, adults) to do the same. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004822 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:20:08 +0000 MrsSCB 2004822@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Applesandbananas: these parents disrespected her in life and continue to disrespect her in death. I judge any parent who is emotionally abusive, whether for religious reasons or not. The conversion therapy they subjected her to is even banned in many states. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004820 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:17:03 +0000 erinpye 2004820@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Applesandbananas: if the way they treated Leelah was their best, I'd hate to see their worst. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004814 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:09:35 +0000 Applesandbananas 2004814@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it's a horribly tragic story and I'm equally horrified by the criticism being lobbed at the grieving parents. They, like the rest of us, are doing the best they know how and tried to raise their child in accordance with their beliefs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004806 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:02:31 +0000 mrsjazz 2004806@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: Yeah, that image. The mother's interview wasn't long or surprising based on what Leelah wrote on her Tumblr, but yeah, you should still avoid it, it will just make you upset. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004796 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 20:57:25 +0000 erinpye 2004796@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjazz: oh jeez I haven't read the mother's interview. I'm not sure I'll be able to. :sad: I love that photo too- the one with the child's wings being clipped by the parents, and the trans flag on the wings, right? Very powerful image. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004727 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:32:14 +0000 mrsjazz 2004727@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I read Leelah's last couple of posts on Tumblr and they broke my heart. Just thinking about it makes me cry. </p> <p>I read an interview the mother did with CNN and, ugh. Just, ugh. She said something about Leelah being a "good boy." I wish I could shake some sense into her. I reposted a photo Laverne Cox posted that said, "Refuse to be your child's first bully." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004718 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:22:00 +0000 MrsMccarthy 2004718@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Makes me so sad and its truly tragic. That poor kid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004711 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:16:24 +0000 coopsmama 2004711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is just tragic. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004702 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:07:33 +0000 blackbird 2004702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So sad :( people like her parents will never see the errors of their ways </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004699 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:06:33 +0000 artsyfartsy 2004699@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I heard about this and I'm so sad that these parents continue to do after her death what made her kill herself in the first place. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004695 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:01:50 +0000 autumnlove 2004695@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Very sad. RIP Leelah. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/leelah-alcorn-trigger-warning-tragic-transgender-teen-suicide#post-2004693 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:00:25 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2004693@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: thank you for posting this story, I had not heard about Leelah's death. </p> <p>Very sad. </p>