A transgender teenager who killed himself “was angry with [his] school” after it refused to grant him permission to officially change his name, an inquest into his death has heard.
Leo Etherington had come out at home and at school – but teachers at Wycombe high school, an all-girls grammar school, told the 15-year-old that he could not change his name on the register for another year.
Giving evidence at an inquest into his son’s death, Martin Etherington said: “The school told him he had to be 16 to change his name. He said he was angry with the school.
“I asked him if I should speak to them and he said no. I said we could wait until he was 16 and then change his name.”
The student had also been told by the family GP that he would not be eligible for gender reassignment surgery on the NHS. But in his evidence his father said: “I told Leo I would fund any surgery when the time came.”
The family thought Leo was studying for forthcoming GCSE exams in his room on the afternoon of his death on 31 May. But his father found his body in his room after he missed calls to come down to dinner.
“I could see from the colour of his face and the coldness of his skin that he was dead,” he told the coroner.
On the day of his death, the bereaved father who raised his family as a lone parent after his wife’s death in 2012, said Leo was “joking around” with the family during lunch before going up to study in his room.
The assistant coroner Alison McCormick recorded a verdict of suicide at Beaconsfield coroner’s court on Thursday.
She told Etherington: “You and Leo had a very loving, supportive relationship, and you provided all the support he could have hoped for. I know this must be very hard but I hope you can take some comfort from that.”
In a statement from the teenager’s school, the headteacher, Sharon Cromie, referred to the teen by his former name in her tribute.
She said: “Louise was a wonderful person in every way and is missed by us all.”
In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.
