Charlie Hel Zoey Griffiths
Age 16 (born 3 Aug 2005)1 Dec 2021
Hamilton, Ontario (Canada)
Suicide
Charlie died by suicide. She was a natural on stage, loved playing Warhammer and was a big fan of The Lord Of The Rings.
My daughter’s chosen name was Charlie Hel Zoey Griffiths. She was born on August 3rd 2005 and died by suicide on December 1, 2021, aged 16. Charlie was a beautiful soul who asked that we spread love, kindness, and social justice as she would have done had she felt able to go on living in a body that she despised and a world where she saw so much hate. She was loved, affirmed, and cherished as the light of our lives and is missed more than words can adequately express.
Charlie was originally from Burlington and is dearly missed by her loving, affirming family. Her obituary reflects this and is reproduced below:
It is with unspeakable sadness and broken hearts we say goodbye to our beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, and friend, Charlie Griffiths, who passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, at the age of 16, following a difficult struggle with depression.
Charlie will be dearly missed every day by her adoring mum and dad Rachel and Carl, her brother and best friend James, her grandparents, John & Anne-Louise Watts and John & Barbara Griffiths, Aunt Victoria (Andrew), Uncle Matthew (Gabriela), and cousins Charlotte, Daniel, Emma and Benjamin, as well as her many friends.
Charlie was born August 3, 2005 in Hamilton, Ontario and grew up in Kilbride, Ontario. From the moment she arrived, she was a source of light and laughter to those around her. With her striking blonde hair and bright blue eyes, we often wondered how she possibly could be related to the rest of us. Yet with her humour, avid love of both history and reading (oftentimes combined), and quick wit, she was unmistakably a Griffiths-Watts.
Never one to follow the crowd, Charlie was always her own person, whether that was wearing head-to-toe pastel pink or naming herself after the Norse goddess of the underworld. She was a natural on the stage and could command an audience with her quirky humour and energy. She was an incredibly kind and sensitive soul, who made friends easily and was universally well-liked.
Charlie was never happier than when she was playing Warhammer with her brother and best buddy James, cuddling her dogs, or reading her beloved Lord of the Rings and fantasy novels.
Sadly, over the past couple of years, Charlie struggled under the weight of depression, and carried with her a great pain made worse by the isolation of the pandemic. Despite this she remained funny and quick witted, a star whose light shone in realms others often couldn't understand. Yet for those who were lucky enough to be in her orbit, she was a gift of infinite proportions.
It is deeply symptomatic of the nastiness inherent in our society that when her godfather wrote her loss on on Twitter on Trans Day of Remembrance 2022 he was trolled so much by haters that he ended up deleting his post.
Almost a yr ago I lost my goddaughter Charlie who despite deep love at home, couldn’t find that same support for trans people in the wider world.
As a godfather and priest I say this on #TransDayOfRemembrance you are not saving kids by hating trans people. You’re killing them.
[Editor's Note: the emphasis above is my own.]
https://www.arbormemorial.ca/en/dbburlington/obituaries/charlie-hel-zoey-griffiths/75273.html
https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/thespec/name/charlie-griffiths-obituary?id=40232694
https://twitter.com/RevDaniel/status/1594434029683720200 [BROKEN LINK]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSEeVwWc9JI
