Leelah Alcorn Action will be held across New Zealand this Saturday in solidarity with global measures to mark the death of a transgender Ohio teenager, and push for gender issues to be taught in schools. Leelah Alcorn died in an Ohio hospital just over a week ago following a suspected suicide. Following her death, a scheduled blog entry appeared on her Tumblr account, where she spoke about being transgender, her parents forbidding her to transition till she was 18, and her suicidal thoughts. “After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was,” Alcorn wrote. “I immediately told my mom, and she reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong.” Alcorn also called for gender issues to be taught in schools. Vigils have been held around the world and marches will happen in Auckland and Hamilton this Saturday. A vigil will be held in Christchurch. Auckland march organiser Eva Allan says the idea that such a tragedy could be avoided by better education for people on the subject of gender Identity is worth looking into. “As an activist I am used to looking at injustice and thinking what can I do to change it - how can I build a better society? I couldn't look at Leelah's note without thinking ‘I need to do something, I need to do whatever I can to make sure the such a tragedy doesn’t happen again’. “Although Leelah was American there are transgender people all over the world and all of us are at risk. Leelah said fix society so that is what we must do.” Allan has started a campaign centred around the demand taken from the note Leelah left “A campaign that aims at taking advantage of New Zealand's socially progressive society to pass legislation that would see gender identity taught in New Zealand schools and hopefully set a precedent for the rest of the world to follow. “Transgender lives are just as important and our community does not need another tragedy.” On the 10th of January there will be transgender rights marches in Auckland and Hamilton. The Auckland march starts at 2PM outside Britomart and the Hamilton march starts at 12 at Victoria Street. More info here In Christchurch, a vigil will be held at 2PM in the Sanctuary Gardens on the corner of Manchester St and Cambridge Terrace. All are welcome to attend. Rainbow Youth and other youth organisations across the country are there to help and support young people coming out as trans. Contact Rainbow Youth through its website here.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 7th January 2015 - 10:54am