from a young age we are taught that at
our most basic level we are comprised of
elements that are outside of our control
things like race or the color of your
hair or the music that speaks to you it
can even be as simple as whether or not
your left or I handed a lot of us live
with the privilege that we never have to
think that we could be punished for it
but the reality is there are groups of
people in our society that are not only
being punished but systematically
tortured for who they are the reason why
this group is so special is because
they’re young most of the time the
reason they go through is because of
their parents who don’t know any better
and the fact that they might not even
come out of it alive to speak about it
is why I’m speaking today two years ago
Ohio joined the forefront of a
nationwide discussion on conversion
therapy which was something that leelah
Alcorn a transgender girl from
Cincinnati went through when she was
seventeen conversion therapy in the past
before the 1980s included icepick
lobotomies chemical castration and
forced hormonal therapy and today even
though it does include sit-down therapy
like you and I might recognize it also
includes things like hypnosis forced
prayer re-education and most notably
aversion therapy in which once provided
with a stimulus if the patient doesn’t
respond the right way they’re met with a
negative reinforcement like vomit
inducing chemicals or electroshock
therapy
thousands of young LGBT children or
otherwise go through this each year and
it’s a legal practice
in leelah Alcorn suicide note she stated
that after coming out as transgender her
mother quickly pulled her out of public
high school and cut off her ties with
the outside world before putting her
through conversion therapy for many
months and because of it
she decided enough was enough and she
walked out into Interstate 71 and killed
herself because of her death the LGBT
community adopted an already existent
phrase rest in power which started with
the death of Trayvon Martin because of
it even though it should have ended with
her the community has seen this is not
just a condolence but a battle cry for
every young minority killed in a system
built to fail them I remember when I
first heard about leelah Alcorn stuff I
was 14 I didn’t really know much about
my queer identity if I even had one
should I even have one but I knew that
something had to be wrong because this
was the first time I had really ever
thought about what it meant to want to
die if Lila had really truly needed to
be changed why did it kill her a lot of
people criticized her choice to commit
suicide and if you think about it it’s
really not that unique and her story
isn’t either that’s what’s so terrifying
her parents did not think that something
was wrong with their actions putting her
through that torture they thought that
they were changing her for the better
and if you look at her gravestone which
still has her birth name on it I can
tell you right now that does not
represent a parent’s love for their
now currently the Williams Institute
states that 10% of queer people in their
lifetime attempt suicide at least once
and for trans people is 40% if you take
that into the equation of this room for
every 10 people for them attempt suicide
but the problem with this is these
numbers are wrong and these numbers are
actually worse the problem is this
doesn’t take into account when this
mixes in with race or religion or living
situation or whether or not they’re
closeted people attempting suicide in
their lifetime or the people who died
and were never added to these statistics
they don’t include the massive rates of
suicide when you take into account
conversion therapy and this is legal now
some of you might be asking how that is
how its funded how does it still exist
but the fact of the matter is we have an
elected vice president who during his
time as governor of Indiana allocated
HIV funding for research over to
facilities that have conversion therapy
programs which they call repre dara p
and even worse
conversion therapy funds itself most of
the time they charge at least $10,000
per child each time they go through the
program and even if they criminalized it
like they did in Cincinnati and six
other states there are still loopholes
there are parents sending their children
outside of the country and even the
continent in order to change who they
are the huffington post released an
article a few months ago about a 15 year
old boy from America by the name of
Raymond bys according to his parents he
was too effeminate they didn’t even know
if he was gay or not but they sent him
to a conversion therapy camp in Africa
there at night he would be strapped to
his bed and beaten with planks he would
be shocked with Taser
he would be starved and if he threw up
or went to the bathroom they would make
him eat it instead of feeding him two
months after entering the program he was
sent to the hospital and he died there
15 years old younger than me this is
legal and it’s funded and parents don’t
even realize what they’re setting up
their children for but there are still
people in our country that are saying
well you guys can get married so what
else do you want well first of all we’d
like to go to the bathroom but at the
same time we’re also getting killed
there are people who are so scared of
being honest about who they are that
they would rather die than let people
know I could be shot for talking about
this in another country that’s at least
progress at least we’re not in a setting
where I could be burned just for
existing but at the same time with more
work more advocacy and more allies ship
from people who have the resources to
create change which is all of you we
could be saving children from not only
being killed but destroyed for something
as common as being left handed their
organizations dedicated to this cause
the gay lesbian straight Education
Network is dedicated to creating safe
and inclusive schools for LGBT youth of
all races religions and abilities we
could be going to school counselors and
setting up crisis hotline directories
for all youth for all issues so that way
even if their parents are the reason why
they’re afraid at night they can take
charge in their own health we should be
taking Lila and Trayvon and Raymond’s
influences and never letting it die and
letting them rest in power like they
deserved thank you [Applause]
our most basic level we are comprised of
elements that are outside of our control
things like race or the color of your
hair or the music that speaks to you it
can even be as simple as whether or not
your left or I handed a lot of us live
with the privilege that we never have to
think that we could be punished for it
but the reality is there are groups of
people in our society that are not only
being punished but systematically
tortured for who they are the reason why
this group is so special is because
they’re young most of the time the
reason they go through is because of
their parents who don’t know any better
and the fact that they might not even
come out of it alive to speak about it
is why I’m speaking today two years ago
Ohio joined the forefront of a
nationwide discussion on conversion
therapy which was something that leelah
Alcorn a transgender girl from
Cincinnati went through when she was
seventeen conversion therapy in the past
before the 1980s included icepick
lobotomies chemical castration and
forced hormonal therapy and today even
though it does include sit-down therapy
like you and I might recognize it also
includes things like hypnosis forced
prayer re-education and most notably
aversion therapy in which once provided
with a stimulus if the patient doesn’t
respond the right way they’re met with a
negative reinforcement like vomit
inducing chemicals or electroshock
therapy
thousands of young LGBT children or
otherwise go through this each year and
it’s a legal practice
in leelah Alcorn suicide note she stated
that after coming out as transgender her
mother quickly pulled her out of public
high school and cut off her ties with
the outside world before putting her
through conversion therapy for many
months and because of it
she decided enough was enough and she
walked out into Interstate 71 and killed
herself because of her death the LGBT
community adopted an already existent
phrase rest in power which started with
the death of Trayvon Martin because of
it even though it should have ended with
her the community has seen this is not
just a condolence but a battle cry for
every young minority killed in a system
built to fail them I remember when I
first heard about leelah Alcorn stuff I
was 14 I didn’t really know much about
my queer identity if I even had one
should I even have one but I knew that
something had to be wrong because this
was the first time I had really ever
thought about what it meant to want to
die if Lila had really truly needed to
be changed why did it kill her a lot of
people criticized her choice to commit
suicide and if you think about it it’s
really not that unique and her story
isn’t either that’s what’s so terrifying
her parents did not think that something
was wrong with their actions putting her
through that torture they thought that
they were changing her for the better
and if you look at her gravestone which
still has her birth name on it I can
tell you right now that does not
represent a parent’s love for their
now currently the Williams Institute
states that 10% of queer people in their
lifetime attempt suicide at least once
and for trans people is 40% if you take
that into the equation of this room for
every 10 people for them attempt suicide
but the problem with this is these
numbers are wrong and these numbers are
actually worse the problem is this
doesn’t take into account when this
mixes in with race or religion or living
situation or whether or not they’re
closeted people attempting suicide in
their lifetime or the people who died
and were never added to these statistics
they don’t include the massive rates of
suicide when you take into account
conversion therapy and this is legal now
some of you might be asking how that is
how its funded how does it still exist
but the fact of the matter is we have an
elected vice president who during his
time as governor of Indiana allocated
HIV funding for research over to
facilities that have conversion therapy
programs which they call repre dara p
and even worse
conversion therapy funds itself most of
the time they charge at least $10,000
per child each time they go through the
program and even if they criminalized it
like they did in Cincinnati and six
other states there are still loopholes
there are parents sending their children
outside of the country and even the
continent in order to change who they
are the huffington post released an
article a few months ago about a 15 year
old boy from America by the name of
Raymond bys according to his parents he
was too effeminate they didn’t even know
if he was gay or not but they sent him
to a conversion therapy camp in Africa
there at night he would be strapped to
his bed and beaten with planks he would
be shocked with Taser
he would be starved and if he threw up
or went to the bathroom they would make
him eat it instead of feeding him two
months after entering the program he was
sent to the hospital and he died there
15 years old younger than me this is
legal and it’s funded and parents don’t
even realize what they’re setting up
their children for but there are still
people in our country that are saying
well you guys can get married so what
else do you want well first of all we’d
like to go to the bathroom but at the
same time we’re also getting killed
there are people who are so scared of
being honest about who they are that
they would rather die than let people
know I could be shot for talking about
this in another country that’s at least
progress at least we’re not in a setting
where I could be burned just for
existing but at the same time with more
work more advocacy and more allies ship
from people who have the resources to
create change which is all of you we
could be saving children from not only
being killed but destroyed for something
as common as being left handed their
organizations dedicated to this cause
the gay lesbian straight Education
Network is dedicated to creating safe
and inclusive schools for LGBT youth of
all races religions and abilities we
could be going to school counselors and
setting up crisis hotline directories
for all youth for all issues so that way
even if their parents are the reason why
they’re afraid at night they can take
charge in their own health we should be
taking Lila and Trayvon and Raymond’s
influences and never letting it die and
letting them rest in power like they
deserved thank you [Applause]
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