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Monday, January 5, 2015

HUNDREDS ATTEND CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN LEELAH ALCORN'S MEMORY

Hundreds of people gathered on a cold, rainy Saturday evening at Kings High School in Cincinnati where Leelah Alcorn attended before her parents enrolled her at an online school, Ohio Virtual Academy.

The 17-year-old committed suicide last Sunday after writing in an online diary that her parents didn't accept that she identified as female.

While some were friends, others were there to support the call to end discrimination of transgender people and to protect transgender youth.

Over 250,000 people have signed an online petition on Change.org calling on US President Barack Obama to enact a law protecting transgender youth from the conversion therapy which is suspected to have contributed to Alcorn’s suicide. 
News of her death made headlines around the world when her messages on her social media account documented her struggles came to be known.

'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,' she wrote on Tumblr.

She also wrote about how her parents forced her into conversion therapy which contributed to her suicide.

'My death needs to mean something,' she wrote in the post, which she scheduled to appear the day after her death.


A separate vigil has been planned on Jan 10, 7pm at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, 3711 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati. It will be hosted by the Diverse City Youth Chorus and the Cincinnati chapter of GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. 

SOURCE: GAY STAR NEWS

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