‘I loved my son’

[Jazzy]

‘I loved my son’ Mother of transgender teen still refuses to acknowledge her daughter despite Tumblr suicide note

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The mother of a transgender teenager who killed herself last week has said that does not agree with her daughter’s choice to be transgender, despite her tragic death.

In an interview with CNN, Carla Alcorn, from Ohio, has said that neither she nor husband Doug acknowledged daughter Leelah Alcorn’s sex, and referred to her as ‘son’ and ‘him’ at different points throughout the interview.

Her unrepentant views comes only days after Leelah, who was born as Joshua Alcorn, committed suicide by walking in front of a tractor trailer.

In a suicide note, Leelah wrote: ‘The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in’.

In the note, Leelah also heartbreakingly talks of her initial joy on discovering that she was transgender.

She said: ‘when I was 14, I learned what transgender meant and cried of happiness’.

Carla Alcorn has since said that she was opposed to her daughter’s gender on religious grounds.

She said: ‘We 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.’

She also said she banned her daughter from social media after viewing ‘inappropriate’ material.

This completely contrasts her daughter’s admission in her suicide note that she was punished when she decided to come out as transgender.

‘They took me out of public school, took away my laptop and phone, and forbid me of getting on any sort of social media, completely isolating me from my friends.

‘This was probably the part of my life when I was the most depressed, and I’m surprised I didn't kill myself’, she said.

Leelah Alcorn also used her suicide note to call for greater tolerance towards the transgender community, writing :‘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’.

In the wake of Leelah’s tragic death, the Transgender Human Rights Institute has started a petition on Change.org, which has received close to 200,000 signatures, to ‘seek a pathway for banning the practice known as transgender conversion therapy’.

Leelah Alcorn also used her suicide note to call for greater tolerance towards the transgender community, writing :‘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’.

It is believed that Leelah Alcorn’s parents had previously forced her into conversion therapy and sessions with Christian therapists, which she described as them ‘telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help.’

Thoughts?

 

[Nebulous]

Hmm...

‘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.’

Such loving parents:

‘They took me out of public school, took away my laptop and phone, and forbid me of getting on any sort of social media, completely isolating me from my friends.

parents had previously forced her into conversion therapy

Sounds like this person was emotionally abused and tormented for years by the parents.

 

[Enter Username Here]

Mother's love should be unconditional.

Enough said.

 

[seasidemike]

I think that it is too easy to judge people on this stuff.
It is a tragic situation for all involved.

 

[fantanoice]

This really peeved me off. She died and they still couldn't acknowledge her.

 

[Dee]

This is an all around tragic thing for everyone involved. The parents are in denial, brainwashed by their own petty ignorance, the teen is now dead because no one understood or cared about what she was going through, and the poor driver who hit her has to deal with that for the rest of their life. Sad.

 

[Nebulous]

I think that it is too easy to judge people on this stuff.

Indeed, we don't know all the circumstances I suppose.