Death of Blake Brockington

Life

Brockington was born on May 14, 1996 in Charleston, South Carolina. He moved from Charleston to Charlotte, North Carolina, when he was 12.

Brockington was assigned the sex of female at birth and identified as such publicly until he came out publicly as transgender while attending East Mecklenburg High School as a tenth grade student. His family was not supportive of his decision to transition from female to male, wondering why a black youth would want to draw more attention to himself. Because of this, Brockington chose to live with a foster family during his transition. He chose the name Blake after it came to him in a dream and because he liked how masculine it sounded. He was taking hormones, which were covered by Medicaid, and had planned to get a mastectomy once he was able to afford it.

He spent two years as a drum major for East Mecklenburg High School's band.

In 2014, Brockington received national attention for being the first openly transgender high school homecoming king in North Carolina after collecting the most money for East Mecklenburg High School's chosen charity, Mothering Across Continents. He later indicated the process had been tough on him, saying, "That was single-handedly the hardest part of my trans journey. Really hateful things were said on the Internet. It was hard. I saw how narrow-minded the world really is."

After his election as homecoming king, he began publicly advocating for transgender and LGBT youth issues. He spoke at the 2014 Transgender Day of Remembrance service in Charlotte. In December 2014 at Charlotte's Independence Square, he organized a protest against police brutality against blacks. He was involved with setting up an exhibit, "Out of the Shadows: Gay America from Kinsey to Stonewall", at the Levine Museum of the New South in early 2015. Brockington was also mentoring transgender youth. He spoke in an 8-minute documentary made in 2014 by three Elon University students, "BrocKINGton", about his experience being bullied because he was transgender, and being hospitalized for cutting himself.

He was active in the faith community, and participated in the Trans Faith and Action Network Conference held in Charlotte in August 2014.

Brockington was enrolled at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, majoring in music education. At the time of his death, he was on medical leave and not attending classes. He stated that his plans were to become a band director and composer.

Death

Prior to his death, Brockington had indicated that he had experienced years of depression and destructive behavior, such as self-mutilation. He also indicated that he had previously had suicidal thoughts. Two months prior to his death, he posted on his Tumblr page that "Even if I got better in my head, I would never want to continue on in a world like this." A month prior, he posted "I’m waiting on the moment when me and my darkness split from my body." One week before his death, he posted "being in my head is like being a quarterback playing against an entire defensive line." Finally, on the day of his death, he posted "I am so exhausted."

Brockington died on March 23, 2015 after being struck by several vehicles on the outer loop of Interstate 485 near Pavilion Boulevard in Charlotte. The incident was considered a suicide and was similar in nature to the suicides of Ash Haffner and Leelah Alcorn.

Brockington was laid to rest in Ravenel, South Carolina by his family on March 28, 2015.

Reaction

In his obituary, Brockington's family, still unaccepting of his identity as a transgender male, used female pronouns and referred to him by the name they had given to him at birth. Shortly before his death, he had told the media that he was not in contact with a lot of his family.

On March 24, 2015, the day after Brockington's death, about 100 people came to the North Davidson Street headquarters of Time Out Youth, where Brockington had been a client, to share stories and comfort each other.

Southerners On New Ground held a memorial service for Brockington in Durham, North Carolina on March 28, 2015.

Three dozen members of the Charlotte community attended a memorial service for Brockington held on March 29, 2015 at Sacred Souls Community Church. Rodney McKenzie, the National LGBTQ Task Force's director of faith work, travelled from New York City to attend the service and remarked, "This is a loss for you all and a loss for our movement and our world. ... All of us were incredibly touched and incredibly sad. ... This is something touching all us, everywhere." Campus Pride's executive director, Shane Windmeyer, remarked at the service, "Days like today, the weeks recently, it hurts more and more. ... It is a tragic reminder of our duty as individuals to do more, to try better in changing lives and saving lives." Brockington’s partner, Flo Ethier, read what was Brockington's favorite biblical passage, 1 Corinthians 13.

Many have noted that what happened to Brockington fits a dangerous pattern of harmful behavior by transgender youth - who often face disproportionate amounts of bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence. Josh Burford, assistant director for sexual and gender diversity at UNC Charlotte, who had worked with Brockington on the exhibit at the Levine Museum, told the press "What happened to Blake is part of a systemic problem, especially for trans students of color. He didn’t quit. He didn’t give up. ... He’s a victim of what happens every single day to these kids."

Other memorial services are, or have already, been held in cities such as Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and an additional service in Charlotte.