It doesn't get any more personal than this

[awilliams1701]

This girl was just like me. I'm a computer programmer with a passion for gaming and game development. It hurts when another trans person looses their life for any reason, but this one hurt worse than normal because of the programming/gaming connection.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-woman-23-kills-herself-after-being-attacked-online270415

[Wynternight]

I'd like to write this or have someone else write this article for the main news site if you don't mind, Ashley. I'll lock it here for now then pitch the idea for either myself or someone to write. I want this as front page news.

[awilliams1701]

go ahead

[Wynternight]

Thank you.

Locked for Main Page

[stephaniec]

' I killed myself. sorry.': transgender game developer jumps off bridge after online abuse(Trigger Warning)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/28/killed-myself-sorry-transgender-game-developer-jumps-off-bridge-after-online-abuse/

The Washington Post/by Michael E. Miller   4/28/2015

"Eight hours earlier, the transgender 23-year-old had walked west along  the George Washington Bridge connecting Upper Manhatten to New Jersey. Drivers stuck in rush hour traffic saw a slight figure with bright pink hair stop midway along the bridge Bayk took off her shoes then she climbed over the guardrail and jumped."

[fennec-fox]

That's awful...

[Devlyn]

[Wynternight]

This girl was just like me. I'm a computer programmer with a passion for gaming and game development. It hurts when another trans person looses their life for any reason, but this one hurt worse than normal because of the programming/gaming connection.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-woman-23-kills-herself-after-being-attacked-online270415

https://www.susans.org/2015/04/28/name-rachel/

[Wynternight]

Topics merged and unlocked. Front page news story has been written.

[awilliams1701]

I didn't know her, but I've felt closer to her than any other random trans person. We had a lot in common. Her project for bringing Wii and gamecube emulation to the computer is certainly more public than my Strife remake. When I first heard of her death, no explanation was given. I couldn't tell from her picture that she was trans, but somehow deep down in my heart I knew exactly what happened. She didn't need to die. From what I saw she was loved by her parents and by most of the gaming community that was familiar with her work. I also suspect her physical pain lead to just enough to permit some internet troll to get to her. Its a shame and I felt as if I had personally been attacked. It made yesterday the most difficult day I've faced as a transgender person.

[Wynternight]

Seeing how much it affected you and how angry I got reading about her is what made me want to make this a front page story. She was too young and had too much to offer. I'm pissed off and upset right now.

[iKate]

They are debating adding safety barriers and nets on the bridges to prevent suicide. As you may recall, gay teen Tyler Clementi jumped off the GWB a few years ago after being bullied.

To me this is not the solution. The solution is to address the root causes of suicide because people will find a way.

Society in general needs a huge lesson in tolerance and acceptance, IMO. We feed off of the misery of others and that makes us horrible human beings.

[fennec-fox]

They are debating adding safety barriers and nets on the bridges to prevent suicide. As you may recall, gay teen Tyler Clementi jumped off the GWB a few years ago after being bullied.

To me this is not the solution. The solution is to address the root causes of suicide because people will find a way.

I agree. If they just put up a safety barrier to stop people from being able to jump off the bridge and kill themselves, well, they'll just find some other place to jump or some other way to kill themselves instead. I think the solution is to promote mental health awareness and encourage those who are struggling to get help and also to encourage society to be more tolerant and not push people to suicide.

[awilliams1701]

I don't think nets are going to stop anyone and even if it did, there are other ways to do it. 15-16 years ago I was considering the options. Unfortunately I don't know how we fix this problem. Rachel had a lot of support, but between her physical pain an a couple of internet trolls it wasn't enough. The solution needs to be more than teaching tolerance to 90% of the world's population. The only way you're going to prevent this is to teach tolerance to everyone. Unfortunately Baltimore, Ferguson, and others are proof that its a very difficult thing to teach. Our society knows that racism is wrong, but there is still a lot of it out there.

[Mariah]

I agree simply using nets won't stop people. When someone gets desperate they tend to get very creative and coming up with something that will accomplish their goals. They always find alternatives.
Mariah

[Wynternight]

I heard that Rachel was a member of this board. Is there anyone who can confirm if this was so?