#hopebird

Hey, hopebirds!

I’m sorry I’ve been quite silent on this situation. The mod running this blog lives in England; I wasn’t sure if it was right for me to comment on the situation. However, I also know that being silent is not the way forward - so I have to say something.

First of all, I’m really proud of all of you who have, or are going to, march. You’re amazing, and I wish I could stand with you.

You’re all strong, incredibly strong, both for standing up for saving lives in general, and for going against an incredible powerhouse of a government that have made it clear they don’t care. You’re all phenomenal. Incredible. And you are doing an amazing thing. 

I’m very, very sorry that this blog has been so quiet. I see the post still making the rounds and I’m glad to see people spreading positivity! Thank you. So, I’ve made a little decision and I’m bring a new mod onto this team.

@alcomol - aka Jackdaw - will be running this blog in the day-to-day. The blog is going to become far more active, and we will be sharing a lot more positivity posts and help posts. We appreciate you spreading both of these things around! 

The blog will run on a queue and everything will be tagged!  Take care of yourselves, little birds.

Cis Female

White

Pan

English

Athiest

I know I haven't been active here, and I apologise. Christmas is a very busy work season in retail. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, if you celebrate it. Unfortunately, this post is to discuss a horrible matter than I'm sure you've seen about today.

This morning a beautiful young trans girl named Leelah Alcorn took her own life. She had put up with a long, long history of mental abuse from her highly religious parents, including forced therapy and worse. I'm not going to write it all out again - others can do it far better. Here is an article, which seems fairly unbiased.

Leelah left a suicide note on her tumblr, here. (cw and tw for mentions of suicide, mentions of abuse, etc etc.) It's important that these words are shared. And it's so, so important that Leelah's message isn't forgotten. This is too common. It's almost 2015, and we can't allow our trans members of society to be treated like this any more. Hopebirds, I'm looking to you. Safe zones are so important now. And not just online; I'm so, so happy that so many people offer their support, wear their hopebirds, and show that they are always there to talk to. But we need to push further.

Please, please, please, if it's safe for you to do so (and your safety is paramount!!) do what you can in real life. If you have trans friends, if you have trans family, do all you can for them. Do not accept transphobic comments, jokes, remarks. (A good response is - I don't get it, why's it funny?) Do not allow sexist, racist, mysogynistic comments. Make a stand. There are over 150,000 of you that have shared Hopebird. That's an incredible number. If every member of us, every single hopebird, did one small act of kindness, one act of defiance, one act of strength and love and hope - imagine what we could achieve.

Hopebird is about safe places. Leelah didn't have a safe place. I don't want to use her passing as a weapon, but I want to help do the best I can in her memory, and the thousands upon thousands of nameless people (not just children, but adults, too, across the whole spectrum). Please help make a stand. It's what we need to do. A safe place is a shelter. The first step is your inbox. The next step is the world.

If you'd like to do something good in memory of Leelah, it would be wonderful if you would consider making a donation in her name. I will be posting more things shortly, all tagged 'Remember Leelah', if you would like more information. Do not forget her name. We are all Hopebirds. We are a flock. And a flock can accomplish incredible things.

Much love, and a happy new year. - Jessa.