Vigils to be held tomorrow for transgender teen Leelah Alcorn

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Vigils are set to be held tomorrow in memory of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn.

The 17-year-old, from Ohio, scheduled a heartbreaking post on Tumblr citing her parent’s refusal to accept her trans status, and calling for better education and awareness, before taking her own life by stepping in front of a truck.

Despite the death, her mother Carla Alcorn continues to refuse to use female pronouns, saying: “We don’t support that”.

Tomorrow, members of the trans community are set to hold a vigil tomorrow outside Kings High School in Cincinnati – which Leelah Alcorn once attended –  and at 1pm in Trafalgar Square, London.

Rowan Davis, who helped organise the London vigil, said: “We will be gathering in Trafalgar Square to memorialise our sister Leelah Alcorn.

“Her death was a political death. When a member of our community is brutalised at the hands of oppression we must all fight back.

“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.”

 

Organisers of the Ohio vigil said: “It is time for all of us regardless of our sexual orientation to stand together to remember someone we lost. Every time I see someone claim their life, I get upset.

“Acceptance should not be something granted to few. Acceptance should be given to everyone, we are a diverse world of people.”

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