Pride Highlight: Blake Brockington

Hello Fellow Rustin's, Today we highlight Blake Brockington: who was an American trans man whose suicide attracted international attention and previously received attention as the first openly transgender high school homecoming king in North Carolina. Blake was born on May 14, 1996 in Charleston, SC and later moved to Charlotte, NC when he was 12. 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 afraid of what his family may say. This caused Blake to live with a foster family during his transition.

In 2014, after his election as homecoming king, he began publicly advocating for transgender and LGBT youth issues and he organized a protest against police brutality against black people. He was known for advocating for LGBT youth, the transgender community, and against police brutality. Brockington was also mentoring transgender youth and talked about his experiences being bullied because he was transgender, and being hospitalized for self-harming.

Before his death, Brockington had indicated that he had experienced years of depression and destructive behavior, such as self-harming. He died on March 23, 2015 after being struck by several vehicles on the outer loop of Interstate 485 near Pavilion Boulevard in Charlotte claiming it to be suicide by vehicular impact.

Blake Brockington was an important figure for the LGBTQ community and we highlight his efforts for fighting for his community.