12/31/13

Top planetransgender posts for 2013

Greek Transsexuals Are Being Rounded Up, Arrested and Threatened In a Pre Pride CrackDown

Amidst the Greek government's ongoing draconian reaction to the recent protests and the subsequent silencing of the media, there is yet another untold story of human suffering. The police at the bequest of the Orthodox church are targeting law abiding transgender residents of the northern city of Thessaloniki in a bid to terrorize the LGBT community by breaking the weakest link, before the city's second Pride.

At a righteous #1 with 22,683 views. No one was talking about the way our community was being treated in Greece. They are now. Read More 


Photo shopped Picture slamming the Salvation Army does no good

Update 12/9/2013. TRV has since changed the original image to a obviously staged picture.
You can still see the original cached image from the site here.
This change in imagery only serves to highlight the ill intent of the article as the content remained the same. 
There is a story circulating the Internet and facebook with a very disturbing picture featured. It shows two happy young woman fund raising for the Salvation Army but the disturbing sign between them says "Gays Not Allowed". The story is presented as current news and combined with the visual has elicited strong angry reaction from the LGBT community.

10,317 hits since published in September speaks of reconciliation and a need for 'fair and balanced' reporting not just from cis and hetero media but from LGBT media as well.
Read More


South Carolina Sued over failed sex assignment surgery on 16 Month old Intersex Infant

A South Carolina Couple who's adopted intersex infant was operated on without their knowledge just three months before they took custody to 'correct' ambiguous genital are suing saying the gender that was assigned was wrong.

Pam and Mark Crawford's first of a kind lawsuit alleges the doctors couldn't have known which gender the 16 month old known only as "M.C.", would identify as later in life when they modified his genitalia to appear female. Now that M.C. is 8 years old and identifies as male his female genitalia is causing him great distress.

7,016 hits. Read More 

Victory In California! Governor Jerry Brown Signs AB 1266 Empowering Transgender Students

Today marks the beginning of a new era for transgender equality. AB1266 is now law.

 What this means: As our next generation of citizens matures they will have first hand knowledge and respect for their transgender peers and vice versa.

What this doesn't mean:  APFoxand ABC's first paragraph states that California transgender students can now use 'whatever restroom they want". Read More


There was a popular misconception parroted by mainstream media that AB 1266 would allow transgender people to 'use what ever bathroom they wanted'. This post reached 5,100 people helping to dispel that untruth.

Smith College Requires a Trans woman to be Sterilized prior to Admittance


In what amounts to forced eugenics, Smith College has told a transgender applicant she must complete sexual reassignment surgery as a requirement before she can attend the school. The Smith College Trans : policy would appear it is a welcoming placeRead More



need we say more? Yes, we do, but a few, 3,129 who saw it were outraged and helped to change this policy.







12/30/13

Transgender LPGA golfer Bobbi Lancaster say she has an unfair advantage due to testosterone

Lancaster told USA Today playing in the LGPA would "even the playing field" because she would be up against younger more fit opponents.

She feels the LGPA policy allowing her to play against woman her age gives her a unfair advantage and she doesn't want to be seen as a "cheat" because of her pre transition life as a male.

She thinks the LPGA  rules should be 'revisited'.

Lancaster needs to be reminded that she is not the only trans woman who aspires to play in the LPGA or any other sport for that matter. Many trans athletes do not have the physical attributes she describes that she feels gives her an 'unfair' advantage.

Many younger transgender people haven't had testosterone or estrogen affect their bodies as they matured through adolescence due to elective puberty blocking drugs. They have been given the option to delay those affects and have gone on to live their lives without having a body that does not align with their true gender,

Talk about a narrative that fuels the transphobes engine. Speak for yourself Lancaster, please.

Click here to watch


12/29/13

Laverne Cox and Michael Silverman Executive Director of TLDEF on MSNBC


What does 2014 hold for transgender rights?

Executive Director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund Michael Silverman and “Orange is the New Black” actress Laverne Cox, also a transgender rights advocate, join Craig Melvin to discuss the fight for transgender rights in the new year.




Transgender woman Samantha Valentine, victim of Emmerdale's transphobic joke speaks out

Emmerdale is a popular long running soap from the UK with over 9 million international and domestic viewers so it's a forgone conclusion then that this series has immense impact on societal perceptions.  What is acceptable and what is not.

The latest episode made a serious blunder, one that needs a closer look and a proper redress after a transgender woman was specifically hired to play a trans role. Not a everyday experience and one that most trans actress's would jump on, as Samantha Valentine did.

During the episode there was a competition by cast members to see who could get the most hookup numbers at a gay bar. When they regrouped to compare the results one actress proclaimed she had the most phone numbers but Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), objects saying : ‘That’s not fair, that’s a he not a she.’

There have been numerous reports of this, all originating from and quoting the shows management.

Creative director John Whiston apologized saying "It is a huge disappointment to me and to the team that in this instance such unthinking and old-fashioned prejudice should have crept into he show in this way. "Apparently it was added at a very late stage before filming when the show was in danger of under-running."

So  according to Whiston the bar scene was just a last minute 'filler' that incidentally, accidentally without forethought or malicious intent, was transphobic in nature.

I call bullshit on this.



Transgender actress Samantha Valentine now tells us what really happened.

Well it all started when a friend of mine who does work as an extra called me and told me to get in touch with a certain casting agency as they were looking for a transgender woman to to play a barmaid in a gay bar for a popular UK soap opera (emmerdale).  I though about it and I decided to go for it because I thought if they want someone transgender it must be for something positive.

I called the casting agency they told me what was required (nothing about what would be said about trans women either) and they emailed me details once they decided to hire me (no audition) of where to go and the time for me to get their, the only other contact I had with the TV station was the wardrobe department when they wanted my measurements in which i mentioned I was a transsexual woman (well they say I was a transvestite I just corrected them), anyway once I got on the set for filming, the episode was about two couples taking their lesbian to a gay bar in hope to pick someone up.

 I was told when I was to walk in and take a tray of empty shot glasses from the cast and walk to the bar with it, I thought "why do they need a transgender woman for this, any woman could do this"?

When they filmed it there was no problem with it and it was done, then later on I was to remain in the background to them for the rest of the filming that day, anyway later on the script required the cast (including the men) to go around the gay bar and try to get as many numbers as possible from lesbian's (yes the men had to do that too?).

When they came back later on to see who got the most numbers one of the female member of the cast said "I got the number off the barmaid" (me) then her boyfriend (in the soap) said "that's not fair that's a he not a she". This completely shocked me as I was not told about this.

I wasn't told about this and was then I realize why they wanted a transgender woman for the part. I was numb for the rest of the afternoon when we left and was taken back to the TV station to make our way home I was talking to one of the other extra's and she too said that it was disgraceful what they have done, but I was angry and tired and i just wanted to go home.

The next day when I woke up it dawned on me immediately and I broke down i must of cried for over an hour thinking I was a fool.  Why didn't I say something there and then, what are people going to say when it gets aired? And the bigot's now have ammunition to shout at me with as well as the usual crap they shout at me. I didn't get out of the bed that entire day nor did I eat anything. I just lay in bed depressed.

The following day I woke up and decided to do something about it. I checked online and found a charity called Press for Change who are legal expert who specialise in transgender law.

I called them and told them what had happened. They then told me to email them what had happened as well as sending them all documents from the casting agency. When they got back to me they told me that the TV company had broken two laws, one in the gender recognition act and another in the discrimination act. We decided to do a letter to send to the head of the TV station and the head of the soap opera stating to them how they have broken the law and we then gave them an ultimatum to change it in five working day or we'll see you in court.

They changed it in three days but I asked them why they wanted a trans woman for the role considering as it looked like it was for a bad joke. They didn't give an explanation for this they just cut out the derogatory scene, they just said it must of been overlooked before they filmed it.

I don't believe that for one second, the soap for a long time has done situations involving gay and lesbian people including major characters who have come out as gay and have dealt with it in respectable and positive way why they couldn't of done this with me I don't know.

 I feel this is a missed opportunity for them to use an actual transgender woman in a soap opera the first in the UK (they used a cis gendered women to play a trans woman in the soap coronation street).

 Although I had won this I feel we still have a long way to go before we are accepted and not being made a joke of.


"Trans of Termini" Andrea Quintero respectfully identified as female at funeral by Popes home Church

Unclaimed by her family unwanted by society Andrea Quintero's lay since June, unburied. Call it Divine intervention after years of hate from Pope Benedict, his successor Pope Francis's own church stepped in to give her a burial.

And they did it respectfully.

(ANSAmed) - ROME, DECEMBER 27 - The funeral Andrea Quintero, the Columbian trans killed with sticks in Rome, there were more than a hundred people, including the Minister Kyenge, Mayor Marino and Vladimir Luxuria. To officiate the Mass Archbishop Fierce, director of Caritas and his father Giovanni La Manna, director of the Center Astalli. In his homily, Andrea has always been defined as 'she'. It is "an important gesture - said Marino - a gesture of a church that is renewed under the leadership of Pope Francis."

The National Catholic Reporter hasn't got the memo from the Pope so I edited the story as nessacary.

If anyone wants an example of what the emphasis on mercy under Pope Francis looks like in action, they’ll find one this afternoon in Rome at the Church of the Gesù, the mother church of the pope’s Jesuit order, where a funeral will be celebrated for a Colombian transgendered and homeless person beaten to death five months ago.

The body of Andrea Quintero, who struggled with drug addiction and lived on the streets in the area around Rome’s main Termini train station, was found alongside a track in the station on July 29. An investigation concluded he she died as a result of injuries from a severe beating.

Quintero, 28 at the time, had left his her family in Colombia four years before. He she was well known to personnel at the station and to charity workers, calling himself herself the “Trans of Termini.”

A week before his death, he gave a brief video interview to the Italian paper Corriere della Sera in which he described having a paralyzed arm and walking with a limp as a result of a previous beating.



Video Discription: Among travelers who each day ran to catch the train at the station just did to her case. For all the tranny was speaking, the one who spent her days along the tracks or in front of the entrance to the station to collect the butts in the ashtray to glean a bit of tobacco. Another unnamed desparate and no history to fill the ranks of the homeless people. Andrea was only 28 years old and was Colombian. She had one leg and one arm paralyzed for an aggression suffered in Ostia. The night of 28 July 29, 2013 and someone has massacred by the barrel; her body was found dropped to the track 10.

She did not speak with anyone, did not trust easily. Most of the time she was sitting staring at the empty. Or trailed, one step at a time toward the 714 bus shelter that would have brought to the table of the Caritas of Colle Oppio. When understood to have confidence, though, changed expression, her face sunburned is illuminated. So, six days before her death had told us her story, the pain and violence suffered, and confided her hopes. In spite of everything.
Video edited by Gabriella Lanza.



Gian Guido Vecchi journalist, Vatican correspondent of Corriere della Sera tweeted this:

12/28/13

Shout out to the "Prancing Elites" gay dance troupe from Semmes, Ala

They are fabulous but not everyone enjoyed seeing them at this years Christmas parade in Semmes Ala. The man who invited them went as far to say that they 'tricked' him after some residents complained.

Being a trans person in the deep south I understand what being visible means and respect these individuals for living fearlessly, authentically and creatively.






Outrage over Ani DiFranco's #righteousretreat at Nottoway Plantation goes unanswered


A storm has engulfed a well know white feminist singer Ani DiFranco since she announced a "Righteous Retreat" in the iconic monument to slavery, the Nottoway Plantation. By all accounts DiFranco isn't listening even deleting threads critical of her on the events facebook page.






http://t.co/AqyisKZ72Y #righteousretreat

But hey, but maybe the plantation is doing good in the world now. Maybe the profits from this and other activites are being used for the good of humankind, or maybe not. PQ Monthly reports that

So why hold the Retreat at the Nottoway Plantation? In order to inform my outrage I wanted to know who benefits from the continued existence of the Nottoway Plantation. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but is owned and operated privately by Nottoway Plantation Inc. Nottoway Plantation Inc., with annual revenue of $2.5 to 5 million is owned by the Paul Ramsay Group. The Paul Ramsay Group, interestingly enough, is the investment arm of Australia’s thirteenth richest billionaire Paul Ramsay, a healthcare mogul well known in Australia for donating half a million dollars to conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s election campaign. So who benefits from the continued existence of the plantation? The man who has given more than $1.8 million to the anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-immigrant Liberal party over the last 14 years.

Despite the outrage it appears that DiFranco has turned a deaf ear. She not replied to any of the tweets asking her to change the venue leading to many condeming her as a racist.

From the website righteous retreat.com:

Allow me to invite you down to Louisiana to learn and play with me and some of my friends, exploring these and a few more of our favorite things!
RBR042 Ani by Danny Clinch 2We will be shacked up at the historic Nottoway Plantation and Resort in White Castle, LA, for 3 days and 4 nights exchanging ideas, making music, and otherwise getting suntans in the light of each other’s company. During the day, myself, Toshi Reagon, Buddy Wakefield, Hamell on Trial and others will lead workshops and lessons that focus on developing one’s singular creativity. In the evenings we will perform for each other and enjoy great food in a captivating setting.
We will arrive on Wednesday afternoon and that evening there will be a cocktail reception and an intimate performance by yours truly. Thursday, Friday and Saturday there will be seminars and jams with a show each evening by one of our illustrious artists/faculty. We will also have a collective outing to New Orleans so I can introduce you to my new hometown and some of the extraordinary things I’ve found there.

Bring your guitar, your journal, your kazoo or just your curiosity and come join us for some mind expanding fun! We have room in the circle for everyone.


No DiFranco, more than likly you will be entertaining in the plantations "White Room" called such becuse it was painted white to highlight the white woman. Its the slaves of Nottoway who lived in shacks, each having two rooms with a family living in each room.


New TSA page. Transsexuality and the Airways

Stoic eyed, expressionless the agent demanded that I dump the contents of my duffle bag onto the floor, in full view of gawking future plane mates. Humiliated and red faced I asked the agent why I had been singled out. He replied 'because you paid for the ticket in cash'.

Singled out on a domestic flight originating from Cedar Rapids to a similarly innocuous destination? For paying in US Dollars?

That was a number of years ago but the memories remain fresh. I get anxious even now when I look at those expressionless TSA agents at the airport. It should not have to be like this. Hopefully the new TSA page will educate those agents who are a little less than understanding or knowledgeable about transsexualism and the airways.

Some of the information found on the new TSA Transgender page in bold print and of course, my obligatory commentary.

Making Reservations: Secure Flight requires airlines to collect a traveler’s full name, date of birth, gender and Redress Number (if applicable) to significantly decrease the likelihood of watch list misidentification. Travelers are encouraged to use the same name, gender, and birth date when making the reservation that match the name, gender, and birth date indicated on the government-issued ID that the traveler intends to use during travel.

Why using our authentic name would make us more likely to be placed on a watch list is beyond me, but there it is. If you don't want a hassle from the get go buy your ticket with your legal name. For those in the community who haven't or don't want to change their legal name and gender marker this could be more than a little daunting.

What if you gender presentation is so authentic you do not look like your 'government issued id'? Will that put you on a 'watch list'?

Case in study. The Denver Wrangler bar staff recently excused their transphobic denial of public accommodations to a drag queen because his id did not match (sic) his presentation.

New Advanced Imaging Technology Software: TSA has upgraded all millimeter wave advanced imaging technology units with new software called Automated Target Recognition to further enhance privacy protections by eliminating the image of an actual traveler and replacing it with a generic outline of a person.

In everyday language, your bits and pieces will not be (should not be) viewable.

In case you were wondering these items are a no
no according to the TSA Blog
On the lighter side the TSA.gov blog reported that "Officers found a can of soup in a Las Vegas passenger’s carry-on bag. When told that it couldn’t go through because of the liquids rule (it was more than 3.4 ounces), the passenger said they would put the soup in their checked baggage. But when the passenger returned to the checkpoint, officers saw that the passenger had tried to hide the soup in their pants.  No soup for them."  

"Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT): Screening with advanced imaging technology is voluntary and travelers may “opt out” at any time. Travelers who “opt out” of the AIT screening are required to undergo a thorough pat-down by an officer of the same gender as the traveler presents."

SexyTSA Costumes.
ready for your pat down?
Note that the officer conducting the pat down is of the same gender as you present, not necessarily what you ID indicates. The choice of whom pats you down, male or female is yours. Side note. Wondering why the TSA put "opt out" in parenthesis.

Now for what in all likelihood got me that special attention. I was really nervous.

Behavior Detection Program: 
Behavior Detection Officers screen travelers using non-intrusive behavior observation and analysis techniques to identify potentially high-risk passengers. Officers are designed to detect individuals exhibiting behaviors that indicate they may be a threat to aviation and/or transportation security. Individuals exhibiting specific observable behaviors may be referred for additional screening, which can include a pat-down and physical inspection of carry-on baggage.

TSA recognizes that exhibiting some of these behaviors does not automatically mean a person has terrorist or criminal intent. Referrals for additional screening are solely based on specific observed behaviors.


So I'm flying to DC this Febuary. My information is already in the NSA's hands as we will be inside the White House at some point. Here's to Hoping the agents you I come into contact do not see through cisgender lenses.
Happy Trails!


12/25/13

Ukrainian journalists demand justice in response to Tetiana Chornovol beating.


In a short period of time, since November 22 there has been an onslaught targeting Ukrainian activist who want closer ties with the EU. But the violence doesn't stop there. Its now being directed towards LGBT people  and journalists as well.

U.S. Embassy in Kyiv condemned the attack on Chornovol in the statement it released on Dec. 25. The embassy called for an investigation, "which unlike previous such incidents must result in those responsible being held fully accountable under the law."

Watch this video from the dashboard camera in Tetiana Chornovol's car as they force her to stop the day after she posted about Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaliy Yuriyovych Zakharchenko extravagant new home.



"They didn't say anything. They were just beating." Tetiana Chornovo from her hospital bed.

T

Who would do such a thing? Most say these criminals are ether tied to Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych or working for him indirectly.

You can watch a video stream from Kiev protest site via UStream.

  • Statement by the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine

    The EU Delegation to Ukraine is closely following with concern the increasing pressure on civil society activists, political leaders and journalists who are taking part in peaceful protests in Kyiv and around the country, in support of the association of Ukraine with the EU and for the respect of fundamental freedoms. Intimidations, physical violence and dubious charges are being reported from different cities. The brutal attack the past night on journalist and activist Tetyana Chornovol is unfortunately only the latest one of a number of recent worrying cases.

    The freedom of expression is among the internationally enshrined fundamental human rights which Ukraine signed up to respect and protect and which remain among the core values of every free and democratic society.

    It is the duty and responsibility of the authorities to protect people’s right to demonstrate peacefully, the freedom of expression of journalists and other civil society activists: such rights needs to be protected everywhere and for everybody.

    We note the prompt call by President Yanukovych for an investigation on the case of Tetyana Chornovol. We hope for a comprehensive investigation of that case and of all other cases of intimidation and violence based on all available and trustworthy evidences and witnesses. A proper and independent investigation would bring to justice all those responsible and address the problem of perceived impunity in the country for such serious violations of fundamental freedoms. Inaction of authorities or lack of result of the investigation risk to undermine public trust in ability of state to protect its citizens.

Live from the protest at Kiev # Êvromajdan # Evromajdan #Euromaidan



Live streaming video by Ustream


Interview with Transgender woman Conchita Wurst who's representing Austria at EuroVision 2014

UPDATE She WON!! Check her song out here

The Austrian public broadcaster ORF has confirmed that transgender woman Conchita Wurst will representing the Alpine republic of Austria at the 2014 Euro vision song contest.

The contests have recently included former eastern bloc and Muslim counties. Liechtenstein and Vatican City are the only European countries not to have participated.

This announcement hasn't gone unnoticed in Russia. According to Pravda.ru the Communications commission has received a petition asking that the 2014 contest be banned from Russia specifically because a transgender woman is among the finalists.






Did Santa Claus come out of the Santa Closet as transgender?

Is Santa Claus a transgender man? Well I can't speak for Santa Claus but I did find this card stuck in my six foot high tree amongst the blinking lights and ornaments next to the fireplace.

OK. So I don't have any of those things. No tree or fireplace. No 'blood' family. And no, I don't celebrate this holiday in 'traditional ways'  and yes I made that invite, but who's to say? It's always a possibility that Santa is Transgender.

Just suggesting that Santa Claus is transgender sure got the tea party's ornaments swinging.



Then Rush ba humbug decked the halls



Memo to haters: Christmas is for everyone. Even brown skinned  middle eastern men who hang out with people like me.






12/23/13

Pussy Riot Amnesty is a PR stunt says freed member Maria Alyokhina

ITN News Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina has been freed early from prison in Russia under an amnesty, but slammed the move as a "PR stunt". The 25-year old was jailed in August 2012 along with two other members of the punk band for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" after performing a protest song in Moscow's main cathedral.

 She believes her early release was a publicity stunt by President Vladimir Putin and claims she would have refused to leave jail if she had the choice. "Now I'm not afraid of anything anymore. Believe me", she told local media. Fellow band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was also released on Monday.

12/22/13

Transgender man suing Georgia deputy, county and sheriff for jailhouse rape

An unnamed Georgia transgender man has filled a federal lawsuit alleging he was sexually assaulted repeatedly by former Gwinnett County Deputy Duane Clark while incarcerated in January of 2012.

WSBTV is reporting that former Deputy Duane Clark, 40, was fired and arrested for sexual assault of the inmate and violation of oath by a public officer following the 2012 incident. The now former inmate said the sexual assaults happened repeatedly for almost a month while he was in the jail during January 2012.

His attorney Jeff Sliz says the county is accountable because they had closed circuit TV but only one guard per Pod so there was no one to stop the rapes.

Pakistan TV reporter invades home of transgender woman and man hands them to police saying they deserve stoning

Queer Pakistan is reporting that a national TV show called "The Secret" invaded a Lahore couples home humiliates them, lies about them and then hands them to police. The couple could face 2 years to 10 years imprisonment (gross indecency between persons of the same sex), and up to Life imprisonment (Buggery)


The text that accompany the annoyingly repetitive bull eyes:

1) “Unemployment has led even men to prostitution”… huh?
2) “People [ignorantly] love those who are worthy of stoning”…
3) “Showbiz industry is full of homosexuals (Ansar Burney)”… quotes Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney.
4) “What’s the purpose of men dressed as women to stand on roadside”… maybe to hire a taxi?
5) “Men trapped in prostitution in rented houses”… huh?
6) “Business of homosexuality in Zamzama, Clifton and other posh areas…”… and we thought homosexuality was a sexual orientation.
7) “Decent and respectable people also involved in this crime”
8) “Tiny places/cabins/huts are house of sins”
9) “Need of lawmaking to curb homosexuality…” Really? You need more legislation in a country that criminalizes homosexuality and has Sharia clauses that prescribes capital punishment?
9) “This nation is destroyed because of open-minded people…” genius! We thought poverty and terrorism was the cause but now we know, it’s open minded people!
10) “Man the bridegroom and man the bride…” honey you really need to get used to seeing that now that several countries recognize that.
11) “Government silent spectator…” of course, what’s the harm in blaming government, everyone seems to be doing it.
12) “Glimpse of People of (prophet)Lot even in this modern world” … honey modern world has more ‘people of Lot’ than the people of Lot themselves. Your ignorance is at fault here.
13) “A big cause of HIV and AIDS is homosexuality”… okay, that’s crossing the lines of ignorance. Missy, the cause you are referring to is “unsafe sex” which also prevails in heterosexuality. Honestly, don’t you do any research and have any editorial control these days?
14) “Vulgar men acting as eunuchs…”


The hoax:. Open letter from a mother who's son was bullied for being gay.

The letter was a hoax. A person contacted me from the email address that I received this letter from and said they had been 'hacked' This individual has since taken down all links that they provided.

I know it is disappointing when we are deceived but feel righteous knowing your good will did not betray you.  The congregations who prayed and those who reached out to "Alex's mom" did it out of compassion and love for our neighbors.

Matthew 22:37-40

New International Version (NIV)
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

This individual is still in pain but it may be beyond us to forgive him/her. Or maybe not. The pain this person will feel may not be experienced on this earth, but there will be a time of reckoning for him/her, so yes our prayers are still needed for him/her.

I ignored a hard learned lesson about validating sources when I posted this person's letter. Through my tears, the day before Christmas, reading "Alex's Mom's" letter I felt such a need to share Christ's love. My love remains for this individual, but not my trust.

Alex's Mom, I forgive you and yes you are still held in my prayers. Do good.

Kelli Anne Busey

The letter:

The following is a open letter from Alex's mom whom I happened to meet on twitter yesterday.
She found Alex in his room December 20th.

Her pain was so intense and real in her short messages I had to try to help. I love you Alex's mom and I pray this helps with your pain.
R.I,P. Alex

"He was a happy teenage boy three months away from his 18th birthday. He told me everything. he was an average student. He wanted to be a therapist no not want he was determined to become a therapist. We moved around a lot this was his 4th high school. He was a senior. I was afraid he wasn't going to make any friends, but when he got home after his first day of school he could not stop talking about all of the friends he had made. 
He had a beautiful smile, The kind that could brighten a dull room. He loved to laugh, his laugh was contagious. Once he started laughing it was only a matter of time before the whole room was down on the floor laughing along with him. He made videos on youtube trying to get his message across the world.

 He was a strong believer in gay rights. He wanted to change the world. He touched the lives of every one who knew him. He had lost a lot  of friends to suicide, he always blamed himself for not being there. When some one hurt he hurt, he had the ability to feel the pain of others. I remember that day he told me he was gay, he was crying so hard i thought we both were going to drowned in his tears.I broke down crying because he told me something that meant a great deal to him. I wrapped him up in my arms and told him "I know baby boy i think i knew before you did. I loved you then and guess what, I still love you now." We were both crying but his tears weren't of sorrow but of joy and relief. 

Then one day he told me he was making a twitter account, he kept telling me about the friends he made on twitter. He got so happy every time someone followed him he would say mom, mom i got another follow. I was proud of him of everything he had done, and i'm still proud of him, and i always will be. 

On December 20th 2013 i found my baby dead in his room laying in a pool of his blood. I can not describe the pain i felt when i found my baby boy laying dead in his own blood with a knife covered in blood next to him. I screamed and cried I wanted to take that knife and push it through my heart, so me and my baby would be together again, I kept screaming, "Why, god why", and "wake up baby wake up". I kept repeated "i'm sorry" over and over again. But then i felt on hand on me. I found the last picture he ever Then today i found his suicide note. This is what it says:


"Dear mom, I cried myself to sleep every night knowing i don't have a place in this world, that everyone would be better off with out me. I was just holding people back. I was done with the pain, i was done with the bullies that would never go away. I was done with life. No one cared about me, they all hated me. And i know i have disappointed you. No one will remember me. I'll be another forgotten soul. I love you mom i'm sorry you deserve a better son than me." 
"Reading those words broke my heart, i was proud of him. He was the best son anyone could ask for. But now there is another angel in heaven and another star in the sky. Love you baby boy."

Alex's memorial guest book where you can leave a note.

Alex's mom shared this video with us in remembrance of her baby boy



Trevor project hotline.

They are there for us 24/7 1-866-488-7386

Trevor Lifeline - (866-488-7386) - You can call the Trevor Lifeline to connect with a trained volunteer counselor who is ready to listen.
TrevorText - You can text message with a trained counselor on Fridays between 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Pacific) / 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Eastern). Text the word “Trevor” to 1-202-304-1200. Standard text messaging rates apply.
TrevorChat - If you want to talk with a trained volunteer counselor online, visit TrevorChat. It's a free, confidential chat service available 7 days a week from 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Pacific / 3:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Eastern.