Henry Berg-Brousseau, a transgender rights advocate whose story helped encourage opposition to trans-restrictive laws in Kentucky, has died. He was 24.
Berg-Brousseau died Friday, stated his mom, state Sen. Karen Berg. He “long struggled with mental illness, not because he was trans but born from his difficulty finding acceptance,” she stated in a news launch. The trigger was suicide, she stated.
Berg-Brousseau, of Arlington, Virginia, was the deputy press secretary for politics for the Human Rights Campaign, one of many nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations.
“Henry was first and foremost a fighter and an advocate. He was fighting for transgender rights as a teenager in Kentucky, far earlier than he should have had to,” HRC president Kelley Robinson stated in an announcement. “As part of his job at HRC, he faced down anti-transgender vitriol every single day, and no one was more aware of the harm that anti-transgender rhetoric, messaging, and legislation could have on his community.”
His mom, a Democrat from Louisville, stated her son had lastly discovered a neighborhood, “but that could not undo the brokenness that he already felt.”
Berg talked about her son throughout legislative proceedings as she opposed Kentucky payments aimed toward proscribing transgender rights – comparable to those who have handed Republican statehouses throughout the nation. They embrace a 2022 Kentucky legislation that restricts the power of transgender women and girls to take part in class sports activities.
“On a daily basis at his job Henry would be aware of the hateful and vile anti-trans messaging being circulated around this country and focused at his workplace,” Berg stated in a news launch. “This hate building across the country weighed on him. In one of our last conversations he wondered if he was safe walking down the street.”
Berg, a doctor and professor from Louisville who was first elected to the state Senate in 2020, stated her son spent his life “working to extend grace, compassion and understanding to everyone.” She stated the “vitriol against trans people” has “real-world implications for how transgender people view their place in the world and how they are treated as they just try to live their lives.”
“If I have one ask, it would be this: practice tolerance and grace,” Berg stated. “Work on loving your neighbor.”
If you or somebody you already know is in emotional misery or suicidal disaster, name the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).