Controversial Therapy Is Focus of Panel Discussion About Leelah's Law

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 11, 2015) — To be fixed, something must be broken. But who decides if it is broken?

Joshua Alcorn’s parents and church believed he was broken and needed to be “fixed.” Leelah Alcorn was admittedly confused, but she did not feel “broken,” just horribly depressed.

Alcorn died by her own hand on a lonely stretch of Ohio interstate on Dec. 28. Her parents’ posted a blue-background message to the local school’s website lamenting the loss of their “beloved son, brother and friend.” But Alcorn had told her friends at school that she was transgender; they used a different picture, a pink background and the words “beloved daughter, sister and friend.”

The controversy has only grown since then, especially at the nation’s universities and colleges, where the blame for Alcorn’s death is attributed to what some call conversion therapy.

OUTSource, Gay Student Alliance, Shades of Pride, the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center and others at the University of Kentucky have organized an event to help the campus understand the issues involved in the death of Leelah Alcorn. “Fix Society: Leelah’s Law” is slated 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, in Memorial Hall. Daniel Walinsky from the UK College of Education Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology will address the audience and lead a panel discussion.

In a lengthy, prepared suicide note, sent by a pre-scheduled Tumblr post 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.”

Tragically, Leelah’s story is not rare. About half of America’s transgender youth have attempted suicide prior to their 20th birthday. According to the Trevor Project, LGBT youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times more likely to attempt or commit suicide as those who report no or low levels of rejection.

A recent survey circulated by the National Transgender Discrimination Survey reported that 41 percent of those responding reported an attempted suicide. Compare those numbers to other surveys that indicate 10 to 20 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults and 4.6 percent of the overall U.S. population report an attempted suicide.