Transgender Rights Activist Henry Berg-Brousseau Dead at 24 from Apparent Suicide

Transgender rights activist Henry Berg-Brousseau has died at the age of 24 due to an apparent suicide, according to her mother.

Berg-Brousseau, a woman living as a man, became a favorite among LGBTQ activists in 2016 when she testified against a transgender bathroom bill in Kentucky, which caught the eye of comedian John Oliver.

During her testimony, she talked about being forced to use the girl’s bathroom despite her identity as a man.

Over the next few years, she found a role for herself at “a leading LGBTQ+ rights organization at a time when anti-trans bills were proliferating across the country,” according to The Guardian. She would later become the deputy press secretary for politics for the Human Rights Campaign.

Berg-Brousseau’s mother, Democrat Kentucky state senator Karen Berg, said her daughter died of suicide and she “long struggled with mental illness” due to people being unable to accept her newfound identity as a man.

“The vitriol against trans people is not happening in a vacuum,” Berg said in a statement. “It is not just a way of scoring political points by exacerbating the culture wars. It has real world implications.”

“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,” added Berg, who referred to her daughter with masculine pronouns. “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.”

Human Rights Campaign Kelley Robinson hailed Henry as a “fighter and an advocate” while also using masculine pronouns.

“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,” said Robinson. “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.”