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"Her Name Was Eden" - Transgender woman takes her own life after being trafficked and de-transitioned against her will (CW: Suicide, Trafficking)

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Android Sophia

Android Sophia

The Absolute Sword
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,142
This story is very difficult to talk about, and involves topics that can be triggering including (but not limited to) suicide, de-transitioning, and human trafficking. IF YOU NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE, PLEASE REACH OUT. RESOURCES LIKE THE TREVOR PROJECT AND TRANS LIFELINE ARE AVAILABLE.

If you find yourself in a situation like Eden's, please reach out. There are people who can help you get asylum and your freedom.





This story has been making the rounds on Twitter for a day now, and you may have seen it if you interact with the trans community. It shows up prominently if you search for Eden's name, or check the #JusticeForEden hashtag.


View: https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1635508230704209920

A member of the trans community, Eden Knight, took her own life, and left behind a message explaining the awful circumstances which lead to this. The mainstream media hasn't quite picked up on the story yet, but many activists on Twitter are trying to spread the message. Erin Reed, a well know trans activists, made a post regarding Eden's story to her Substack. I urge you to give it a read. Here's some choice quotes from it:

Last night, Eden Knight, a transgender woman with many friends in the community, took her life. With her passing, she left a final message on twitter about the circumstances that lead to her death. Originally from Saudi Arabia, Eden was trafficked out of the United States. Forced to detransition, she was brought back to Saudi Arabia and given no future where she could be herself. Her final message reveals what so many transgender people and those who care about us have said for so long: for many of us, forced detransition can be a fate worse than death. It is with hope that what I tell you here will cause change and that she will be remembered in her passing.

Eden's note details that two "fixers," allegedly a man by the name of Michael Pocalyko and a woman by the name of Ellen, got in touch with her with a message of hope - that they could patch things over with her father. They delivered her to D.C. and a lawyer by the name of Bader took over from there. Over time, the lawyer made it so that Eden was entirely dependent on him and unable to to leave. Because Eden had remained in the United States illegally, she was afraid that if she tried to run away, she would be reported and sent back to Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, that seemed to be Bader's plan the entire time - eventually, she had no option but to go back to Saudi Arabia as she was completely cut off from her community, money, and independence.
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Eden's words show the pain of many transgender people who are forced into circumstances similar to her. Sometimes medical detransition is forced on transgender people by bad family members. Sometimes it is politicians that attempt to force detransition on people. The one string that runs through it all is that these people think that transgender individuals are wrong to be who they are. This is what activism against anti-trans legislation is for. This is what immigration activism for trans asylum seekers is for. Transgender people know where this path leads.

She closed her note off by saying that she wanted to be a leader for people like her. Her friends have told me many stories of how wonderful a person she was and how much she cared about the community. She said that she wanted to see our kids grow up to fight for us, and that she wanted to see transgender rights worldwide.
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It is very hard to type this right now, as this is a fear I often worry about for many of my trans friends. I've already lost trans friends and acquaintances because they felt they had no support from friends or family. So reading the events over the past 48 or so hours has been heartbreaking to me. Eden's friends, with the help of the larger trans community, have been putting together as much information as they can in an attempt to see justice done for her. The #JusticeForEden hashtag, mentioned above, is what people have been using to express their support. Hopefully some mainstream media will pick up on this.

Besides wanting to spread the word of Eden's passing, I also wanted to bring up this story because it shows the very real danger that forced de-transitioning is. Erin mentions this in her article, but I feel it is especially important to mention here as well. Eden was trafficked out of the country against her will, but even states like South Dakota are passing laws with the intent to force trans people to detransition. Another state, Texas, has posted a bounty hunter drag ban. Transgender folks, and especially transgender youths, are at an extreme risk of losing their lives if they don't receive the proper care and support that they need. Forcing people to de-transition against their will kills. If we don't fight back against these awful laws that have been proposed or passed in the US, we risk losing so many lives.


View: https://twitter.com/Esqueer_/status/1635360931705425920

View: https://twitter.com/EuphoriTori/status/1635595590691090434
 
AuthenticM

AuthenticM

Son Altesse Sérénissime
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
30,328
This is fucked. Rest in peace.

Am I right to assume that the two people who threatened to have her deported didn't do anything illegal, so no legal consequences await them?
 
OP
OP
Android Sophia

Android Sophia

The Absolute Sword
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,142
AuthenticM said:
This is fucked. Rest in peace.

Am I right to assume that the two people who threatened to have her deported didn't do anything illegal, so no legal consequences await them?
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That is a question better suited to a lawyer or someone more knowledgeable than me. If I see an answer on Twitter from someone knowledgeable, I will let you know.

That being said, there's actually three people involved, and the third person involved (a lawyer by the name of Bader) almost certainly commit some sort of crime.
 
lori

lori

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,962
CaptainKashup

CaptainKashup

Banned
May 10, 2018
8,313
I hope every single person involved in that case gets what they deserve.
Just leave trans people alone, for fuck sake.
Rest in peace, wherever you are now Eden.
 
KettuNet

KettuNet

Member
Jan 21, 2018
18
Being forced to detransition is one of my worst fears, it would kill me, i cannot imagine going back. I feel like i live in a safe country regarding this, but you never know with world leaders like US leading the way in anti-trans legislation, and even if my country doesn't go that way, i'm sometimes afraid of supply chains of our much needed medicine being disrupted somehow. You hear news of drug shortages in certain drugs, how China controls much of the drug manufacturing, etc, and even if that doesn't concern hormones now, my mind still sometimes wanders - "will i have the medicine i need for the rest of my life?". Luckily, drugs like Progynova and Androcur are not for transpeople only, otherwise many of us would be gone already.
 
Cenauru

Cenauru

Dragon Girl Supremacy
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,079
I was debating on making this thread in hopes that her message is spread as far as it can. It's been all over trans circles on twitter for the past few days, and it's absolutely heartbreaking. She deserved so much better. Hopefully her story is picked up, she deserves to be heard, for others to see what transphobes want to do to us.

Justice for Eden.
 
GK86

GK86

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,882
I hope karma gets these bastards. Fuck them and everyone that thinks like them.

Heartbreaking. RIP Eden.
 
TheGummyBear

TheGummyBear

Member
Jan 6, 2018
8,858
United Kingdom
Android Sophia said:
It wasn't random. Eden's father is wealthy and has ties to the Saudi government. This was all planned to force her to de-transition against her will.
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This is just completely horrific.

If he didn't want anything to do with his daughter, he could have ignored her, disowned her, anything. He would still be an asshole, but Eden could have lived her best life.

This was all about exerting control over her. Which is effectively what everyone who pushes for detransition is after, exerting control over trans lives.
 
steejee

steejee

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,713
Stories like this just.. I don't even know the words. They're what I fear, and know, the GOP in America sees as a goal.
 
Dice

Dice

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,683
Canada
Awful... I can't imagine how much pain she was in... People willing to commit such cruelty and control over others...What's there so say...

The one string that runs through it all is that these people think that transgender individuals are wrong to be who they are.
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Beautifully succinct and the following...

This is what activism against anti-trans legislation is for. This is what immigration activism for trans asylum seekers is for. Transgender people know where this path leads.
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...What a tragic kind of foresight to have.
 

Belfast

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,889
American conservatives want to be Saudis. Incredibly rich and able to control their population, especially women and LGBTQ+ folks.
 
Isilia

Isilia

Member
Mar 11, 2019
5,855
US: PA
The lengths they went to make sure she suffered. What abhorrent "humans"

I'll do what I can to signal boost.
 
Katbobo

Katbobo

Member
May 3, 2022
5,452
It's super depressing. I can only imagine that it'd hard enough to have life immediately deal you a difficult hand with birthing you in the wrong body, but then to find out that the one life you're given is one where people will do everything in their power to prevent you from experiencing love, joy, acceptance. It's cruel beyond thinking.

I hope she rests in peace, and that somehow this world can become less cold and hateful.
 
Phoenixazure

Phoenixazure

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,450
A personal nightmare for me who is currently going out with someone who is trans. Never thought I'd have to do research on what states we'd like to visit for fear of his life, much less countries. Really something that has been very illuminating for me. Just…jeez.
 
The Independent news article
  • Index
    • OP
    OP
    Android Sophia

    Android Sophia

    The Absolute Sword
    The Fallen
    Oct 25, 2017
    6,142
    The Independent has picked up the story regarding this.

    It's pretty lengthy, and includes a lot more than what was previously known, so I'll just quote the start of it. Eden's passing had already been confirmed independently of this, but this adds additional confirmation.

    A young transgender woman from Saudi Arabia is feared dead after she posted a suicide note accusing her family of forcing her to detransition.

    Eden Knight, 23, who had been living in the US until late last year, said in a Twitter post on Monday morning that she had killed herself after being pressured into returning to Saudi Arabia and then denied access to her hormone medication.

    The post, apparently scheduled in advance, alleged that her parents had hired American "fixers" and a Saudi lawyer in Washington DC to bring her back to the authoritarian kingdom, where trans people face severe discrimination.

    A separate tweet on Tuesday by an account apparently belonging to Ms Knight's family announced that a "young man" with the same legal name as Ms Knight had died, giving details for the funeral.
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    Also, this should go without saying, but DO NOT DEADNAME EDEN FOR ANY REASON. Unfortunately, that information is out there now because of her passing.
     
  • Index
    • Professor Beef

    Professor Beef

    Official ResetEra™ Chao Puncher
    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    22,506
    The Digital World
    the family had the gall to go on twitter also

    naturally they were bombarded and went private

    the shit that went down with Eden made my skin crawl
     
    Ragnar

    Ragnar

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    1,354
    I hope the regret eats the family alive for as long as they're on this planet.
    But seeing as how they're probably already empathy deficient, I can't be sure.
     
    Gunny T Highway

    Gunny T Highway

    Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    17,098
    Canada
    Those assholes need to be rocketed into the sun for what they did to her. Complete violation of human rights.
     
    TheMadTitan

    TheMadTitan

    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    27,361
    This is murder. I refuse to see this as anything but a person being trafficked, abused, and then murdered.
     
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