by Michael Meeze

Yet another completely preventable tragedy occurred over the holidays. According to reports, 17 year old Ohioan, Leelah Alcorn, took her own life by jumping in front of a tractor-trailer on an Interstate. Leelah identified as a transgender girl. Her death was made all the more tragic by a suicide letter she penned on her Tumblr page (which has since been shut down) where she spoke of hopelessness, misidentification, transphobia, family rejection, and unbearable sadness. Despite its heartbreaking content, I encourage you to read Leelah’s entire post, for if we do not learn from tragedy, we let the tragedy win.



Leelah’s death was preventable and entirely too familiar. Transgender individuals suffer abuse, rejection, depression, and suicidal tendencies at a significantly higher rate than their cisgender peers. Her story of being a girl stuck in a boy’s body is really a story of personal identity. We can all relate, on some level, with being falsely labeled by society. Yet, Leelah saw no way of changing that label. She did not see herself ever being accepted. She wrote,



“There’s no winning. There’s no way out. I’m sad enough already, I don’t need my life to get any worse. People say ‘it gets better’ but that isn’t true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse.”



There is no one reason why Leelah took her life, but I feel that if Leelah knew that there were others out there who could sympathize with her struggles, then perhaps the hopelessness she felt could have subsided enough to prevent her death. If only she could have heard one more song of hope, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided.



Transgender youth, especially those who are part of closed-off, homogeneous social groups (such as our own music scene), lack role models who prove that it does, in fact, get better. That is why the story and visibility of artists like Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace are so important. This is not to insinuate that Leelah’s death could have been prevented simply by her listening to Transgender Dysphoria Blues (perhaps she already was an Against Me! fan…we do not know), but rather, that the narrative Laura Jane Grace offers is one of hope, understanding and pride – a narrative that is lacking in today’s media.



Transgender youth need more positive transgender role models in their lives. This is even truer of those who live in hostile environments riddled with transphobia and non-acceptance such as the one Leelah describes. Strong adult transgender role models allow youth who feel isolated to imagine the possibility of having a life where they can be true to themselves and find success pursuing their dreams. If we subscribe to the notion that our scene is predicated on being an inclusive place for all (which, in our scene’s current state, is a complete fallacy), then we should fully support individuals such as Laura Jane Grace. We need to provide a safe place for all musicians and music listeners. We need to encourage musicians who identify as anything under the queer umbrella to come out, be visible, and to share their stories of success and struggle. By doing this, we will go a long way toward helping other musicians and fans find comfort and pride in their own identities. Then, perhaps, others who find themselves in Leelah’s unfortunate position will find the hope to continue the fight.



*If you or someone you know needs immediate emergency attention please contact your local authorities or call 1-800-SUICIDE. If you’re thinking about suicide, you deserve immediate help - please call the Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386.



*In light of Leelah’s death, a Change.org petition has been created to encourage the United States’ government to enact Leelah’s Law to ban transgender conversion therapy. If you would like to support such a law, I encourage you to go the Change.org site to show your support.

Michael “Meeze” McCarron is the founder and director of PunkOut.org

Like what you just heard? Support us by becoming a Patron of PropertyOfZack!