A vigil organised by Oxford undergraduates was held at 1pm yesterday in Trafalgar Square to memorialise the death of Leelah Alcorn, a trans girl who committed suicide on December 28th 2014.
Leelah Alcorn, from Kings Mills, Ohio, was found dead on the Interstate 71, having killed herself. In a pre-scheduled post on Tumblr published after her death, Alcorn wrote, “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 fucked up’ and fix it. Fix society. Please.”
Two Oxford students, Rowan Davis and Kae Smith, were involved in the organisation of the vigil. The two told Cherwell, “In her widely publicised final words published on her Tumblr blog [since removed from the social media site], she gave the cause of death as a lack of access to trans related healthcare and the associated sense of helplessness in the face of systemic transmisogyny. In light of Leelah’s death, there has been an unprecedented outpouring of grief and anger by the trans community and its allies, with well known celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Laverne Cox voicing their anger across social media platforms.
Leelah’s note checked parents on intolerance, challenged medical gatekeepers, highlighted power of social media & upheld self-determination.
— Janet Mock (@janetmock) December 30, 2014
Just heard about #LeelahAlcorn – so so sad. A lack of understanding for people like her so so common.
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) December 30, 2014
“In addition to this a petition, which currently has around 200,000 signatures, has been produced that calls for an end to transgender conversion therapy, one of the direct causes of Leelah’s hopelessness. Finally there have been candlelit vigils across the world, the largest being the ‘Stand Up 4 Leelah Candle Vigil’ in Columbus, Ohio on January 2nd.”
Davis explained the purpose of the vigil, “First it is there simply to remember a life cut so short by someone that shared our struggles, a girl killed by systemic transmisogyny. Second it is there to remind people that her death was a political death, that when a member of our community is brutalised at the hands of oppression we must all fight back. Third it is a reminder to other folks that we are more than just individuals in this struggle, that as a community we are stronger and that we can create positive change.
“It is deeply saddening that Leelah’s parents are still refusing to give her the basic respect she deserves, even in death, and so the fourth purpose of this vigil is to do what they will not and mourn a sister.”
Smith further commented, “Leelah left us with an instruction to ‘fix society’. This vigil, as well as remembering her, is hopefully the starting position to a place change where we won’t see another dead Trans teen, a murdered Trans woman of colour, improved health care, understanding of Trans issues and people away from a fixation on our genitals to our lived experience.
“Rest in power, Leelah.”
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Statistics published in January 2014 found that 41 per cent of those who responded to the US-based National Transgender Discrimination Survey reported a suicide attempt. This is in contrast to the 10 per cent to 20 per cent of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults who reported an attempted suicide, and the 4.6 per cent of the overall population of the USA who reported an attempted suicide.
Attendees of the vigil left candles, flowers and other messages. Over 400 people were marked as attending the vigil on the Facebook event.
