Leelah Alcorn's Funeral Moved After Family Receives Threats

The pastor for the family of Leelah Alcorn, the trans teen who died by suicide last week, says the family moved the location of her funeral and held it privately after receiving threats.

Tim Tripp, pastor of the Northeast Church of Christ in Cincinnati, told NBC News that the funeral was moved because “the times and dates had been publicized, and the family’s received threats.” He also said that the family had heard there would be “disruptions” to her service. A local funeral home confirmed to NBC that Alcorn’s service was held there. The funeral home said her remains will be cremated.

Nearly 70,000 people have signed a petition urging Carla Alcorn, Leelah’s mother, to put the girl’s chosen name on her headstone. In a recent interview with CNN, Alcorn still refused to refer to Leelah by that name, saying, “I loved my son” and denying the family hadn’t been supportive.

Leelah’s Tumblr account, where she posted her suicide note, has been deleted. But Reddit users have also uncovered her account there, where she posted under the name “nostalgiaprincess.” Days ago, she wrote sadly about what she’d been given for Christmas by her family.

“Some socks and some boy clothes,” she wrote. “It sucks watching your sisters get dresses and having your family compliment how pretty they are when if I wore a dress I’d get kicked out of the house.”

A number of vigils are planned for Friday night in Leelah’s honor; Equality Ohio plans to hold several, including one outside Leelah’s former high school.

The Trevor Project operates a 24-7 confidential hotline for LGBT youth. If you’re in crisis or feeling suicidal, please call 1-866-488-7386, chat with them online here, or text them here.

Other Cincinnati-area resources:

GLSEN Greater Cincinnati Youth Group — meets weekly, for LGBTQ and Ally middle and high school age youth. / / glsen.org and glsencincinnati.org

Heartland Trans* Wellness: TeenSpace and Cincinnati Trans* Community Group —transwellness.org