(no subject)
Yesterday, a friend of mine died.
Well, it actually happened a few weeks ago, but I only found out about it yesterday.
I knew her several years ago, when I was just out of college, tutoring failing kids at my old high school and trying to figure out what to do with my life. She was a high school student, on the outskirts of the main cliques, and always in the library (where my tutoring program was based). Once I left that job and moved to Dallas, then back to San Diego for law school, we drifted apart, but we were still friends on Facebook, and talked occasionally. Once upon a time she was the sender of a very badly-timed text message. Yes, that kind of bad-timing, but my then-girlfriend and I made up for it the next morning.
When I knew her, she identified as male and bisexual, and was struggling to figure out how to tell her fairly conservative parents that she was bi. She started her transition once we fell out of touch, and I never really knew her. From the information I'd found out over the last few years, she was optimistic about the future, accepted in her transition, and working on LGBT education for everyone around her. She was a member of her school's very well known marching band, and a big fan of Doctor Who. (I gladly take some responsibility for that one.)
When I first saw the news, it was via a mutual friend posting that she'd gone to the memorial service over the weekend. There was no mention of how she died, or when, just that there was a memorial service.
My first thought was, "please let it not be suicide."
It wasn't.
She was hit by a car on her way home one night.
This doesn't make her death any less tragic, but it makes me hate the world we live in, where the first thought is that she is yet another victim of societal bullying of LGBT individuals, youth or not.
I hate that it's a relief that she didn't kill herself.
It shouldn't be a relief that she was hit by a car at age 19.
Her death is a tragedy, personally, and for our society at large. When is this going to stop? This bullying of the LGBT community, this fear for our youth? There's more visibility, more acceptance, but we keep hearing horrific stories about how far the bigots will go in the name of "christianity" and "religious tolerance" and "family values" which anyone using the term clearly doesn't have.
I am angry, and I am horrified.
Most of all, I am sad.
Rest in peace, my friend. I, and the world, will miss you.
***
This entry was originally posted at dreamwidth. Please comment wherever you see fit.
Well, it actually happened a few weeks ago, but I only found out about it yesterday.
I knew her several years ago, when I was just out of college, tutoring failing kids at my old high school and trying to figure out what to do with my life. She was a high school student, on the outskirts of the main cliques, and always in the library (where my tutoring program was based). Once I left that job and moved to Dallas, then back to San Diego for law school, we drifted apart, but we were still friends on Facebook, and talked occasionally. Once upon a time she was the sender of a very badly-timed text message. Yes, that kind of bad-timing, but my then-girlfriend and I made up for it the next morning.
When I knew her, she identified as male and bisexual, and was struggling to figure out how to tell her fairly conservative parents that she was bi. She started her transition once we fell out of touch, and I never really knew her. From the information I'd found out over the last few years, she was optimistic about the future, accepted in her transition, and working on LGBT education for everyone around her. She was a member of her school's very well known marching band, and a big fan of Doctor Who. (I gladly take some responsibility for that one.)
When I first saw the news, it was via a mutual friend posting that she'd gone to the memorial service over the weekend. There was no mention of how she died, or when, just that there was a memorial service.
My first thought was, "please let it not be suicide."
It wasn't.
She was hit by a car on her way home one night.
This doesn't make her death any less tragic, but it makes me hate the world we live in, where the first thought is that she is yet another victim of societal bullying of LGBT individuals, youth or not.
I hate that it's a relief that she didn't kill herself.
It shouldn't be a relief that she was hit by a car at age 19.
Her death is a tragedy, personally, and for our society at large. When is this going to stop? This bullying of the LGBT community, this fear for our youth? There's more visibility, more acceptance, but we keep hearing horrific stories about how far the bigots will go in the name of "christianity" and "religious tolerance" and "family values" which anyone using the term clearly doesn't have.
I am angry, and I am horrified.
Most of all, I am sad.
Rest in peace, my friend. I, and the world, will miss you.
***
This entry was originally posted at dreamwidth. Please comment wherever you see fit.