The Leelah Project and an Exciting FEM Announcement!
On December 28th, 2014, Leelah Alcorn committed suicide after deciding she could not live with the abuse surrounding her. After discovering what transgender meant at 14, Leelah finally understood how she could define herself. Unfortunately, her parents were not supportive of their daughter. They took Leelah out of school, isolated her, and took her to Christian conversion therapists. In her suicide note posted on her tumblr (which has been taken down by her parents but can be read here), Leelah stated that she wanted 100% of everything she legally owns to be given to trans civil rights movements and support groups.
Because of this, The Leelah Project was created. This nonprofit helps people like Leelah by supplying clothes, makeup, and other necessities to trans people who need support with their transition. The project runs off of donations of clothes and money from the public to send out their care packages. You can visit this tag on tumblr to see the outpouring of support, art, and articles covering the harm behind conversion therapy.
Right now, FEM is setting up a clothing drive on the UCLA campus. If you do not live in or around the Los Angeles area, The Leelah Project has a Paypal link for donations and an address to send clothing donations.
