Transgender Teen Taylor Alesana Commits Suicide
Another Transgender Teen Has Committed Suicide
Sixteen-year-old Taylor Alesana was a transgender high school girl who loved makeup, movies, and blogging on YouTube. Sadly, bullying drove her to take her own life in Fallbrook, CA, earlier this month. Her YouTube channel, where she shared beauty tutorials and deeply personal details about transitioning, contains a heartbreaking look at the cyberbullying that led to the teen's tragic suicide. Now, determined not to let her death go unnoticed, the Internet has come together to honor Taylor and raise awareness about her (and countless other transgender teens') struggle.
Using #HerNameWasTaylor, Twitter users worldwide are sharing personal memories of Taylor and their own tearjerking experiences dealing with transphobic harassment. They are an unfortunate reminder that Taylor was not alone in her despair — and that something needs to change.
Get to know Taylor below, then see what #HerNameWasTaylor is all about.
Trans people are just as equal as everyone else. How many more of us have to take our lives for people to understand that? #HerNameWasTaylor
— ҂shωing emø egg (@WatACatchDonnie) April 10, 2015
#HerNameWasTaylor another trans teenager gone. When will this issue matter? When will we deal with the consequences? People are dying.
— Holly Baer (@HawliBear) April 9, 2015
When do we admit this is an epidemic? 100? 1000? 10000?! Heartbroken #HerNameWasTaylor #translivesmatter
— Graeme Ross (@graememross) April 9, 2015
Trans people are just that. People. If you hate a person because they're different, you're what's wrong here. #HerNameWasTaylor
— Shawn Smithwick (@ShawnSmithwick) April 14, 2015
remember to always protect ur sisters, not just ur cis-ters #HerNameWasTaylor #translivesmatter
— danielle (@24whitewalls) April 9, 2015
Heartbreaking to read about another young trans person driven to suicide by tormenting bullies. We have so much left to do #HerNameWasTaylor
— Matt Horwood (@matthewhorwood) April 9, 2015
