“We loved him no matter what,” Carla Alcorn tells CNN. Her voice shakes with emotion. “I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy.” Pushing her auburn hair behind one ear, she looks directly into the eyes of her interviewer. Mourning in the stomach-punch way only parents who bury their child understand, Carla Alcorn kept repeating that she loved her child. "He was an amazing musician and artist," she says. "He was an amazing boy." At age four, I realize my difference. Deep inside of me something flutters, and I realize the ones around me fit their predetermined parts and I do not. Small and unknowing, I fumble my way through a world that does not feel like home. I watch the children quietly,
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She stepped in front of a tractor trailer on Interstate 71, four miles from her home in Kings Mills, Ohio, at about 2:15 in the morning. The driver of the truck did not receive charges. Afterwards, a Facebook post apparently from Carla Alcorn stated that her child "went home to heaven this morning. He was out for an early morning walk and was hit by a truck. Thank you for the messages and kindness and concern you have sent our way. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts.” Two hours before her suicide, Leelah posted a suicide note and a few apologies on her Tumblr page. Both posts became viral and spread all over the world, sparking conversations about gender identity, discrimination, violence, and transgender rights. Hashtags emerged, such as #JusticeForLeelahAlcorn. Certain indignant patrons of the Internet took Mrs. Alcorn’s Facebook post and crossed out the name Josh to replace it with Leelah. More than one hundred thousand signatures appeared on a petition to end underage conversion therapy in America. The White House released a sympathetic statement. Over three hundred people attended a candlelight vigil at her school in her memory. Across the Atlantic Ocean, Golden Globe winners dedicated their award to her in a televised
She stepped in front of a tractor trailer on Interstate 71, four miles from her home in Kings Mills, Ohio, at about 2:15 in the morning. The driver of the truck did not receive charges. Afterwards, a Facebook post apparently from Carla Alcorn stated that her child "went home to heaven this morning. He was out for an early morning walk and was hit by a truck. Thank you for the messages and kindness and concern you have sent our way. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts.” Two hours before her suicide, Leelah posted a suicide note and a few apologies on her Tumblr page. Both posts became viral and spread all over the world, sparking conversations about gender identity, discrimination, violence, and transgender rights. Hashtags emerged, such as #JusticeForLeelahAlcorn. Certain indignant patrons of the Internet took Mrs. Alcorn’s Facebook post and crossed out the name Josh to replace it with Leelah. More than one hundred thousand signatures appeared on a petition to end underage conversion therapy in America. The White House released a sympathetic statement. Over three hundred people attended a candlelight vigil at her school in her memory. Across the Atlantic Ocean, Golden Globe winners dedicated their award to her in a televised