On Dec. 29, Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teen from Ohio, stepped into the path of an oncoming semi truck on a interstate highway, leaving behind a suicide note describing having felt “like a girl trapped in a boy’s body” since she was four, and how her parents pushed her into conversion therapy and Christian counseling.
Today, “The Talk” discusses teen suicide:
“I would just say to people out there who have different beliefs … just think it’s more important to let go of the idea that you have a son, than to lose your child,” says openly gay co-host Sara Gilbert.
Watch:
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A 2010 study by from the National Center for Transgender Equality report that 41 percent of people who are transgender or gender-nonconforming have attempted suicide sometime in their lives, nearly nine times the national average.
Additionally, more than 50 percent of transgender youth will have had at least one suicide attempt by their 20th birthday.
On Thursday, Laverne Cox discusses the subject on ABC’s “The View” (Video).
Editor’s Note: If you or a young person you know is LGBT and thinking about suicide, please call The Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386, or the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-565-8860. For adults over 24, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
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