Transgender teen pleads in suicide note: 'My death needs to mean something'



KINGS MILLS, Ohio -- A 17-year-old transgendered teen who committed suicide is getting national attention because of a suicide note she wrote online pleading for others to “fix society.”

According to WLWT, Leelah Alcorn, 17, was born Joshua Alcorn. She was hit by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 71 in Ohio on Sunday morning.

Before her death, Leelah wrote a suicide note and posted it on Tumblr.

In the letter, Leelah said she felt “like a girl trapped in a boy’s body” since she was 4-years-old.

She said when she turned 14, she found out about the possibility of being transgender and “cried of happiness.” But when she told her parents, they were “disappointed” and said she was going through a phase.

Leelah said her parents’ unwillingness to accept her and isolation from her friends only fueled her depression.

“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 ended by saying, “My death needs to mean something. Fix society. Please.”

Her death has sparked an outcry in the LGBT community and classmates at Kings High School are calling for education and tolerance.

Friends and strangers have taken to Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #LeelahAlcorn to raise awareness of her life and the transgender community.