Eden Knight (she/her) was a young trans woman, LGBTQ+ activist, computer science student, “concerned with making the world a better place”, “a light in the trans community”, and one of my followers on social media. I never got the chance to talk to her before she was coercively taken from the United States to Saudi Arabia by fixers Michael Pocalyko and Ellen Cole of SPECINV Special Investigations, and lawyer Bader Alomair of the Washington D.C. Saudi Embassy; forcibly detransitioned by her father Fahad Ibrahim Alshathri (CEO of the Saudi Arabian General Authority for Competition); and was driven to suicide in March 2023. Eden was only 23 years old. Every day I think about what happened to her.
- Knight, E. (2023, March 12). Final Message. TwitLonger. [Post]
- Eden Abduction Details. (2023, March 12). [Document]
- SocDoneLeft. (2023, March 14). A timeline for Eden Knight. SocDoneLeft. [Article]
- AFP. (2023, April 20). ‘We have no place’: LGBTQ Saudis forced into exile. AFP. [Article]
- Akkad, D. (2023, March 24). ‘Her story is for all of us’: Saudi protesters call for justice for Eden Knight. Middle East Eye. [Article]
- BBC World Service. (2025, February 11). The story behind a Saudi transgender woman’s suicide. YouTube. [Video]
- Bozzi, M. (2023, March 24). U.S. Government to Investigate Suicide of Saudi Arabian Trans Woman, Eden Knight. The Organization for World Peace. [Article]
- Dodds, I. (2023, March 15). Saudi Arabian trans woman feared dead after posting suicide note saying family had forced her to detransition. The Independent. [Article]
- Greig, J. (2023, March 14). A young trans woman takes her own life following forced detransition. Dazed. [Article]
- Klee, M. (2023, March 16). Saudi Trans Woman’s Devastating Suicide Note Leaves Her Community Outraged. Rolling Stone. [Article]
- Leonard, L. (2023, March 16). Family forced Saudi trans woman Eden Knight to detransition. Now she’s dead. LGBTQ Nation. [Article]
- Ling, K. (2025, February 11). Lawyer in Saudi trans student’s suicide note had embassy links, BBC finds. BBC News. [Article]
- Lubbock, J., Steinhardt, D., & Colbert, M. (2023, August 17). Saudi LGBTQ refugees live in fear of being kidnapped. Index on Censorship. [Article]
- Noralla, N. (2023, June 1). Eden Knight’s Death Is An All-Too Familiar Story For Transgender Saudis. DAWN. [Article]
- Reed, E. (2023, March 14). Her Name Was Eden. Erin In The Morning. [Article]
- Waterson, J. (2023, August 15). Vice blocked news stories that could offend Saudi Arabia, insiders say. The Guardian. [Article]
“If you wonder why a lot of trans people and allies have the 🔆 emoji in their name or bio right now it’s in memory of Eden Knight, as she used that emoji more than any other.”
“the brightness emoji is for the sun cult, a joke made [by] eden knight, who was a trans girl that was trafficked back to saudi arabia where she committed suicide. it’s a way to memorialize her.”
“My son loved her more than anything. She would play with him and teach him things, such as this cute game where you’d run up and hug someone — she said it’s a Saudi thing. She cared for him as if they were related. My spouse and I gave her a bracelet with the word ‘Aunt’ etched into it.”
“I wanted to be a leader for people like me, but that wasn’t written to happen. I hope that the world gets better for us. I hope our people get old. I hope we get to see our kids grow up to fight for us. I hope for trans rights world wide.” —Eden Knight