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I read about this yesterday. So sad and so completely avoidable by simply being a decently loving parent. Her mom's FB post really makes me uncomfortable - it's so callous. I cannot imagine caring so little about your child to LIE to your friends and family while at the same time asking for their prayers for yourself. Ugh.

@erinpye: thank you for posting this story, I had not heard about Leelah's death.

Very sad.

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.

This is just tragic.

I read Leelah's last couple of posts on Tumblr and they broke my heart. Just thinking about it makes me cry.

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."

@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.

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.

@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.

@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'."

@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.

@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.

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.

@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.

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.

The comments on that heavy.com article were shocking and horrific!! Very eye opening...

@mrbee: ugh, reading comments always ends up so depressing

My heart breaks for her. This story is so sad. It really could have been prevented. RIP Leelah!