The funeral of Leelah Alcorn, the trans teenager whose tragic suicide attracted global attention last week, was apparently moved and held in private after threats were made to disrupt it.
Tim Tripp, the pastor at Northeast Church of Christ in Cincinnati, told NBC News the funeral had been moved to a private location because “the times and dates had been publicized, and the family’s received threats,” adding that they’d heard there would be “disruptions” to the funeral. A local funeral home confirmed to NBC that the funeral had been held there on Friday morning, and that her body was to be cremated.
A petition asking Leelah’s mother Carla to include her chosen name on her headstone attracted 88,000 signatures last week. Carla also drew further attention after continuing to refer to “her son” and using male pronouns in comments made to CNN.
Candlelight vigils were held outside Alcorn’s former school and elsewhere across the country on Friday night, with one even happening as far away as London.