On December 27th, 17 year old trans teen Leelah Alcorn tragically committed suicide by stepping in front of a semi-truck in her hometown of Kings Mill, OH. In a suicide note she posted to her blog, she cited being repeatedly forced into so-called “Conversion Therapy” as one of the reasons she chose to end her life.

Oregonians want a ban on “conversion therapy.” In 2012 the Democratic Party of Oregon voted to adopt legislation banning this for minors, but ultimately nothing happened. The good news: a legislative concept prohibiting mental health providers from performing conversion therapy on minors was submitted to the Oregon Legislature for the 2015 legislative session by Basic Rights Oregon. We need to push our legislators to vote on it and pass it this time around!

Conversion therapy, a practice aimed at changing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, has been disavowed by multiple major medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association.

Portland is a welcoming place for those who identify as LGBT—especially the trans community. However, it's still legal here for people to profit from practicing conversion therapy. The Southern Poverty Law Center maintains that there is still someone practicing in this state. We need to make sure this stops.

Leela wrote in her suicide note that her death needed to be counted. She stated that the only way she could rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren’t treated the way she was, that they be “treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights.” Help us make her death mean something. “Fix society. Please.” 

For Leelah and for all the trans people who have been subjected to conversion therapy, please join me in calling on our Oregon State Legislature to vote on and pass a law banning this practice in 2015.