Leelah Alcorn Transgender Case Study

The hate crime of Brandon brought national attention to the ideal and possibility that someone would want to change their gender. For many people, this was their first time even hearing about trans people and the violence against trans people. After his death, his identity was challenged and argued even though there are quotes from him saying he felt like a man trapped inside a woman's body. As Karina Eileraas puts it “Transgender violence targets both men and women, but Brandon Teena's case highlights its particularly brutal effects on FTM transgender individuals. Boys Don't Cry provides a clear political incentive to integrate feminist, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender concerns in the analysis of violence against women...Serious risks accompany any attempt to invest the body with particular 'truths' about gender and sexuality”. Brandon was not fully accepted in life or given the support he needed but he is remembered in death and his story continues to inspire many people whether trans or not.

A transgender woman by the name of Faye Seidler, has been discriminated from using the woman locker room at her job at Sanford Medical Center. It all started in September of 2013 when she began her hormone therapy, which started her transition from a male to a female identity. Later in 2014 she took a job at the center, where she still represented as a man.

Growing up in America in the 50s and 60s was brutal for young trans people, let alone an transgender orphan born into poverty. Her mother killed herself when Sylvia was just three; her biological father was already long gone. Sylvia’s forbidding Venezuelan grandmother took her in, but despised Sylvia’s

The death of Lela Alcorn was an event that dramatically changed our views on sexuality. Shortly after Leelah died, a petition was started known as Lela’s law which would ban conversion therapy in the United States. The petition gathered 100,000 signatures in which case required a response from white house officials. In April 2015, President Obama responded to the petition stated that he supported the law and was working to get the law enacted. To give more overview on Lela’s suicide, Lela Alcorn was a 17-year-old transsexual female who jumped out in front of a trunk. In her suicide note Lela stated “I feel like a girl trapped in a boy 's body, and I 've felt that way ever since I was 4.” (Lela Alcorn Suicide note page 1). When Lela was 14, Lela told her parents that she was transgender, however Lela’s parents were not accepting of this decision, stating that God doesn’t make mistakes and that she was in fact a boy and sent her to conversion therapy. The conversion therapy only made Lela feel worse about herself and took her own life.

Horrific, unthinkable acts of violence against a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, took his life in 1998. This social problem was thrust into the mainstream media largely by his mother, Judy Shepard. She used her tragedy to create awareness, outrage and support exposing violence based solely on sexual orientation. Her work along with activists that joined her helped create our nation’s first hate crime legislation that included crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. It also made several other important provisions such as tracking hate crimes based on gender identity (transsexuals), funding to investigate and other critical supports. The Matthew Shepard Foundation does significant work on hate prevention programs in communities and continues to work toward tolerance today through its efforts to provide a voice and support for LGBT youth. Although some progress has been made, different forms of violence against gay and transgendered youth remains a troubling condition.

The gang of boys who rapped Lorraine slanders her, and makes cruel comments about her sexuality before they committed their act. They call her out of her name and make it seem as though Lorraine is at fault for why she is in love with a woman. Before violating Lorraine they begun to belittle her before the each has their way with her. In many ways I feel as if Lorraine is raped by society because the residents of Brewster Place abused her for something she is not capable of changing. Not only is Lorraine abused physically, but also verbally, mentally and emotionally. The gang rape of Lorraine relates to the rape of many LGBT individuals by society. The LGBT community is raped by society because hey are not viewed as equal — and in many cases they are ‘raped’ of their own

“Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them. He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling.” Often in literature symbols are used to portray a concept or idea. Lord of the Flies is a prominent user of symbolism, whether it’s characters or objects, many things in the story represents something that it does not physically appear to represent. While using all of this symbolism, the author of Lord of the Flies, William Golding, expertly uses show don’t tell. One very unique and interesting use of symbolism he uses is in the way the characters are dressed and the way they look as symbols. The outward appearance of the boys on the island is used as a symbol to show the mental state

With so little transgender celebrities and almost no representation of transgender in the media, it is no wonder that you hear of so many trans youth killing themselves. The most famous representation of the transgender community is Sophie in Orange is the New Black, who was thrown into prison for credit card fraud to afford her transition. There is also Adam on Degrassi, a female to male transgender whose mom did not fully accept him until he was dying. Degrassi is my favorite representation of transgender youth because when people of the school found out about Adam, the jocks of the school started to tease him and pick on him, even throwing him into a window. This accurately showed what it is like to be living as a transgender person in a bigoted society where you don’t feel like you belong. One celebrity that comes to mind when some hear the term ‘transgender’ would be Caitlyn Jenner. Born Bruce Jenner and being a famous Olympian, she proudly came out as Caitlyn and made the brave decision to publically transition. But yet, people of the world did not want to accept her as Caitlyn. People even made pictures and posts saying “Bruce is not brave, our soldiers are brave,” and comments out loud saying “Gender identity is something Bruce Jenner is struggling with.” Although there was a number of support, trans youth cannot be expected to fully come out and love themselves if they have very little representation and

She was born Josh and later came out to her parents as Leelah, a female. Her parents did not accept her and continued using the name Josh as well as sending her to Christian conversion therapy. Leelah felt so unaccepted and came to hate herself and grew very depressed. On December 23rd, 2014, Leelah walked three or four miles from her parent’s home before getting hit by a truck. Nobody could be sure of what happened until 5:30 that night when her suicide note automatically uploaded to social media site Tumblr. In her note she states, "I’m never going to be happy... There’s no winning. There’s no way out... People say 'it gets better' but that isn’t true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse. The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren’t treated the way I was, they’re treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights. Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better. My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number and say 'that’s ****** up' and fix it. Fix society. Please." Her note was later deleted from Tumblr due to a request from her parents, but excerpts are still floating around on the internet. Her death went viral within days, causing an uproar in the right of transgender teens. Petitions for Leelah’s Law began. Leelah’s Law called for a ban on conversion therapy. Barack Obama surprised the nation when he spoke about his support of this ban, and though a national ban has not been put in place, Cincinnati was the second US city to put the ban in place, following Washington D.C. Leelah asked for her death to mean something and people are determined to meet her

There is nothing more desirable to a person than to love and be loved. Everybody

Regarding access to healthcare, transgender individuals often face the most obstructive barriers when attempting to receive care. Whether they are seeking access to hormones, therapy, general health services, reproductive healthcare, or specialty healthcare, transgender patients typically cannot get what they need without jumping through many hoops or hiding their identities. This occurs especially so in cases of intersecting identities -- where an individual is not just transgender, but is transgender and a person of color, disabled, gay, indigenous, undocumented, poor, etc. These intersecting identities interact in multifaceted ways to produce even more barriers for trans individuals seeking healthcare due to healthcare provider bias, insurance requirements, and doctors’ general unwillingness to help coupled with inaccessibility founded on racism, transphobia, homophobia, mental illness stigmatization, etc.

At present, new issues have emerged for those of us who have radically transformed ourselves outwardly to match our souls. These things are signs of the times, and each of us deal with them as a matter of choice, and in our own way. Everyone has options as to how they conduct their lives. Transgenders are no different, basically because we are all just as human as the next person, frailties and all. Stacey and Arlen chose to blend in. That didn't mean they were ashamed at what they had become. Far from it. On the other hand, even Stacey and Arlen had to weather many an episode of sweaty palms worrying about losing a job, being refused service at restaurants, at churches, medical institutions, or approached to produce an I.D. in order to go to the bathroom.

On the screen a women dressed in a pants suit, straight mouth, and microphone in hand. Behind her is possibly a high school in a small town, or an everyday two story home. Though it's the despair of the situation, the words passing from her lips that will draw in viewers. Viewers who sit on their couches, shake their heads, muttering what a shame it all was. What a shame that yet another young life was taken, a life taken by their own hands. Over the course of 2015, multiple teen suicides were being reported in such a way nationwide. It was the unique factor that all the teens had in common, that caught so many viewers attention. Each and everyone of them identified as transgender, and had recently came out with their new identity to family members and peers.The death of Leelah Alcorn (born Josh Alcorn), on December 28, 2014(CNN) seemed to be the main stream attention setter for the news and media that spread into the new year of 2016. Leelah had posted a note on her Tumblr blog, a suicide note, explaining why she felt she had to end her life short.”They wanted me to be their perfect little straight christian boy, and that’s obviously not what I wanted.” (CNN). Wrote Leelah mere hours before she stepped in front of a moving trailer. Ending her life much too

The American society impacts thousands of LGBT people annually. Estimating around 9 million Americans identify as being lesbian, gay, bisexual and or transgender (Gates). Each of these people are personally impacted by our society annually. Many personal stories have come out about the hardships they have to go through. In particular, a recent story that sparked action in the U.S; the story of Leelah Alcorn a 17-year-old suicide victim who experienced bullying, a disapproving family, discrimination and violence against her identifying as transgender. She identified herself as a female she learned about who she truly was from her inner psyche. Because of her depressive thoughts and constant discrimination, she walked in front of oncoming traffic on interstate 71. Leelah sought

Homosexuals are being discriminated in their own homes, work place, and schools. Vanessa Garcia was judged and bullied during her childhood because she was lesbian. Garcia “was afraid to go to school [because] everyone treated [her] like a freak”. Her fear came from the peers in her school harassing and calling her names. Garcia never felt like she fit in with her peers. At a moment she even felt that there was “something fundamentally wrong with [her]”; which almost caused her life when she tried to commit suicide. John Williams is another example of the fear that society creates for being a homosexual. Williams is a gay male student who aspires to become a middle school teacher. Nevertheless, he is afraid that there will not be a school that hires him because of his sexuality. Antigay prejudice and homophobia interfere with the dreams of many members of the LGBT community. Homophobia causes heterosexuals to believe that homosexuals are less worthy and therefore it is okay to treat them unfairly. People do not take in consideration the deep wounds they are causing gay individuals with their prejudices. LGBT are human beings and they should not be thought to be inferior.