Trans Teen Activist, Former Homecoming King, Dies in Charlotte, N.C.

[KamaAina]

http://www.advocate.com/obituaries/2015/03/24/trans-teen-activist-homecoming-king-dies

Blake Brockington, a young trans activist celebrated nationwide as the first out trans homecoming king in a North Carolina high school, is being mourned after committing suicide Monday night, reports North Carolina LGBT newspaper QNotes.

Brockington, an 18-year-old student at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, became homecoming king of East Mecklenburg High School a year ago after he raised more funds than 12 other senior royalty hopefuls, ultimately gathering $2,555.55 out of the school's total 3,203.22 for the school's charity of choice, Mothering Across Continents — an organization working to build a school in South Sudan.

"I honestly feel like this is something I have to do," Brockington, who mentored several younger trans students, told QNotes at the time he was named homecoming king. "Nobody should be scared to be themselves, and everybody should have an equal opportunity to have an enjoyable high school experience." He also shared how he had been rejected by his family after coming out as transgender, leading to his placement in a loving foster home....

Brockington's death is the sixth reported suicide of a trans youth in the U.S. this year, in an "epidemic" that trans advocates say sees far more casualties than are noted by media. "For every name we know, there are surely many that we don't," Trans Lifeline cofounder Greta Gustava Martela explained in an Advocate op-ed a week before Brockington died. "It looks to me like the five reported suicides of trans people in the first three months of 2015 (including 23-year-old Eyelul Cansin in Turkey) have more to do with an uptick in reporting around trans suicide than an actual increase in the number of trans people taking their lives."

[katsy]

1. Oh no.

[virtualobserver]

2. I don't have words

[roguevalley]

16. oh god. oh god. oh god. I feel so old right now.

[silvershadow]

3. .

[Jackie Wilson Said]

4. Desired outcome of the GOP.

This is what a certain segment of the GOP wants.

Not all of them, but you know who I mean.

I dont know whether to cry or scream.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. I thought I remembered this. It is from last year.

It's always good to remember the lost though. RIP Blake.

[Rex]

6. This is fucking unbearable. Our children are killing themselves.

[RKP5637]

29. And some likely celebrate. That, is how F'ed up the USA is. For many, it's a callus country that

literally feeds on hatred.

[Rex]

32. It is frightening where we are in 2016.

Too many people feed on hatred and fear in this country.

[mnhtnbb]

7. When I first saw this

I thought he might have been motivated by the passage of HB 2 in NC on Wednesday--but his suicide
was last year. I wonder whether the ordinance in Charlotte had something to do with it?

How very sad.

[KamaAina]

8. I ripped it down from someone's FB page

which is where I get most of my DU material. S/he must have thought it timely to share this in the wake of the HB2 fiasco.

[mnhtnbb]

9. Because he was in Charlotte, I wonder whether the Charlotte ordinance that was passed

could have been a result? A response to the suicide?

I didn't follow the development of the Charlotte ordinance.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. The timing seems about right (and I was just wondering same thing)

I was pretty upset about what happened in NC last (thankfully have no plans to travel there, like, ever) but I live in Indiana (which isn't a whole lot better but not quite as bad in some places for LGBTs). If I actually had to live under that horrid new law (that overrode Charlotte's protection of LGBT persons- targeted primarily at Trans people and public accomodations), I'd be pretty depressed too. Sad that he (or anybody else) felt like he had no hope of things getting better.

[mnhtnbb]

11. Googling brings up this history

Charlotte voted DOWN an ordinance --March 2, 2015--a nondiscrimination proposal that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to protected categories

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article11908907.html

They took it up again in February this year, when it was passed.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article57811683.html

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. Correct

and then the NC legislature called a special session last week and passed a law that, among other things, stripped not only the ordinance but the ability of Charlotte or any other locality from passing similar protections not approved by the legislature (which incidentally killed expanded veterans protections in some areas).

[mnhtnbb]

13. I live in Chapel Hill, which is an oasis of blue in a currently red state.

The community is quite LGBT friendly.

It turns out that the lawsuit filed this morning in federal court against HB 2 has an individual plaintiff who is an employee of UNC- Chapel Hill.

The case was filed overnight in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on behalf of Joaquín Carcaño, a transgender man who works at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Payton Grey McGarry, a transgender man who is a student at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro; and Angela Gilmore, a lesbian who is the associate dean for academic affairs at North Carolina Central University. Also named as plaintiffs are the ACLU of North Carolina and Equality North Carolina.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominicholden/nc-anti-lgbt-law-lawsuit#.dhLlD4OgkA

[KamaAina]

22. mnhtnbb lives in Chapel Hill?!

I actually know an NYC native who lives in Chapel Hill, but she's from the Bronx and is a repuke, so I guess you're not her.

[mnhtnbb]

26. Yup!

I was born in Manhattan to Republican parents, but I evolved! Alas, my brother did not and remains
a Republican.

[KamaAina]

27. Hmmm. The only two repukes I know of in Manhattan are Republican Stepdad and Trump

And R.S.'s daughter lives in Fla. So the logical conclusion is... Nice post, Ivanka!

[mnhtnbb]

28. Díky!

[RKP5637]

30. NC, another state on my SH** List never to visit, drive through or even go near. Just another SH**

state. My apologies to any DU'ers living there. I know there are some good people and areas in NC, but one has to draw the line. I used to live in a state that was crappy, I closed down my business and left for good.

[glinda]

14. ....

[LostOne4Ever]

15. ...

[secondwind]

17. this is terribly sad on so many levels... :-(

[passiveporcupine]

18. from link in OP

17-year-old trans girl Leelah Alcorn in Union Township, Ohio. Alcorn left a public suicide note pleading for the world to "fix society" so fewer trans people felt rejected and hopeless

This is just so sad. Try to think about how you would feel if all of a sudden your family and half of your best friends rejected you because of something you have no control over...something that society should accept, but doesn't, out of fear and ignorance.

It would be like breaking up with your SO over and over again in a short span of time. I did that once and felt like I was dying. I just can't imagine the pain these young people live with. The older you get, probably, hopefully, the more coping skills you learn, and the more solid support system you build, but there are probably a lot of trans adults that struggle to want to live every day.

[sinkingfeeling]

19. How sad. I hope the NC legislature is proud of their work.

[KamaAina]

20. Mercifully, he never lived to see it

this happened last year.

[Newkularblue]

21. .

[Odin2005]

23. :-(

[libodem]

24. Heartbreaking

I'm so sad about this. Peace to the family and friends.

[polly7]

25. Terrible :(.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

31. ...

[Hydra]

33. I hope you are sleeping well Blake, or dancing among the stars

You did well.

[Delphinus]

34. ...

[Behind the Aegis]

35. ....