Eighteen-year old Lance Lundsten died on Saturday as a result of a suicide attempt, according to KSAX-TV. Lundsten’s friends say he was gay and that he was bullied at Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Minn. Within hours, his death has prompted the formation of an anti-bullying group in the school district. Sen. Al Franken, who is the author of anti-bullying legislation in the U.S. Senate, extended his condolences to Lundsten’s family and friends on Monday evening.
KSAX reports that emergency responders took Lundsten to Douglas County Hospital where he died.
“Bullying is a huge issue, particularly with the youth in our country now,” Shari Maloney, facilitator of the Diversity Resource Action Alliance, told KSAX. “I think because we’re in central Minnesota, and we aren’t as diverse as some of the larger Metropolitan areas are, someone who is different maybe draws more attention and it’s not always positive.”
UPDATE: Via Bruce in the comments, it seems that there’s now some question as to the nature of Lundsten’s death. It’s sad regardless, and my guess is that there’s a more complex set of factors at play here than we yet know. Will update as more comes out.
Tags: bullying, gay teen suicide, gay teens, Lance Lundsten, suicide6 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
How many more suicides will it take before legislators, school boards and school administrators get it through their skulls that bullying of gay teens must be addressed head on and RIGHT NOW!
Jerry, A retired former teacher in Minnesota
Comment by Jerry — January 19, 2011 @ 10:19 am
Via Dan Savage over at SLOG…There’s some conflicting reports about the cause of this kid’s death now…
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/01/18/lance-lundsten-not-a-suicide
“According to preliminary autopsy results that were shared with the family, he died from cardiac edema, a condition caused by an enlarged heart. There was no evidence that drugs or alcohol played any role in the death, according to a family member interviewed by the newspaper. The family was told that it would be six to eight weeks before complete toxicology results are determined.”
But before anyone starts pointing their fingers at the gay community for jumping to conclusions it’s also fair to point out the kid’s own friends and classmates did too and there was probably a reason for that.
Comment by Bruce Garrett — January 19, 2011 @ 12:52 pm
It seems he may have died of natural causes. Still very sad.
Comment by Daniel — January 19, 2011 @ 1:50 pm
Now it’s “They Don’t Know”…
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/01/19/lance-lundsten-cause-of-death-still-undetermined
“The preliminary findings in the autopsy of 18-year-old Lance Lundsten showed the teen did not die from an enlarged heart, according to Douglas County Medical Examiner Dr. Mark Spanbauer. The teen’s heart was slightly enlarged, but that finding was a secondary finding to an undetermined cause, according to Spanbauer… “He was a small young man. His heart showed slight swelling,” Spanbauer said. “It was slightly enlarged. This was a secondary finding.”"
So…nothing really is known yet.
Comment by Bruce Garrett — January 19, 2011 @ 8:01 pm
Aside from the loss of this young man’s life by whatever means it happen – general consensus should be to bring to light that bulling kids simply for being gay is in fact real and as society both gay and straight we need to demand that it is stopped!
Comment by Alonzo — January 20, 2011 @ 6:13 pm
[...] Truth Wins Out – Another Bullying-Related Suicide in Minnesota … [...]
Pingback by Bullies and their victims . . . « Snowflakes — February 4, 2011 @ 9:29 am