Back to the Utah State Aggies Newsfeed

Commentary: How many queer people have to die?

I sat in my room with my head in my hands, sobbing, overwhelmed with grief on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018. A had just received word that a young gay man had died from a suicide attempt the previous day. This moment hit me and many others in our community like a sack of bricks.

Suicides are unfortunately common in the queer community. Everyone knows someone who has died from suicide, and most queer people at some point have attempted suicide.

This suicide, however, hit me harder than the most, not because I knew him, or anything about him other than that he was a gay man, but because his suicide letter mentioned the reason why he died this way.