 Todd Ransom |
A candlelight vigil will be held today, July 20, from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, at the Utah state Capitol to honor the life of Todd Ransom, a young man of Mormon background who took his life yesterday. Todd was 28.
Friends say Todd left behind a note reading “Sunrise – Accept This Offering.” Utah bloggers have written that this is the third gay suicide in Utah this month.
If you feel depressed, sad, or overwhelmed, we invite you to talk with someone you trust and to take a look at these online resources.
Since 2000, Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons has been raising awareness about the epidemic of suicides among LGBT Mormons. In that year we started an online memorial to remember them—whether they were Affirmation members or not.
wow… thank you for posting this blog here. It is a good reminder that I almost did the same thing when I was 29. I also wish I was in Utah. I’d be honored to attend this vigil.
Julio,
Though I don’t know you, I am glad you are still in this world with us.
There is a reason you are still here
[...] spent the evening remembering young gay Mormon men and women like Todd Ransom who have committed suicide. Three this month in Utah. And the list was already too, too long. [...]
I am not sure there wasn’t another one in Cache Valley earlier this month. It was a young man who was gay but the cause of his death, as indicated in the paper, was ambiguous at best.
Keep up the good work on this.
I have no idea how to describe how I feel. I left the Mormon church about 7 months ago now and I am making my way through the aftermath of that. I was deaf, dumb and blind to the plight of LGBT Mormons. I feel deeply ashamed and sorry for my ignorance. I believed the lies fed to me by church leaders and the Ensign, that LGBT people were choosing their lifestyle and that they could change!!! Aaaaahhhh! I am so sorry LGBT community for my stupidity and for blindly accepting the discriminatory views of a religion that was built on lies.
RIP Todd Ransom.
Hi Maureen,
I feel for you. I have been through the pain of leaving the church.
I really want to leave a respectful and loving message to all LGBT lds and anyone who feels marginalized, left out or hurt by the lds church. This message is,”Get out of it.” Get out of the crazy, up-side down thinking that is so hurtful to so many. There is NO NEED to go through all this guilt and pain. Just find another church. The Episcopal Church is very accepting of LGBT members. Women and men are equal, in that faith and there are openly gay bishops. Any student can study and enter the priesthood. The Unitarian Church is also liberal and accepting, as are others. No one needs to DIE for Heaven’s sake!
I want to send love to all, and peace to those who died over this issue.
http://www.thetrevorproject.org
Even though I just found out about this, I still will pray for this young man and his family.
No matter how much we ponder on the “why?”, we may never ever truly know what lead Todd to arrive at such decision. We can only hope that his tormented soul, is now at peace and rests in the arms of our maker.
Does anyone know if the sunrise accepted his offering?
“Does anyone know if the sunrise accepted his offering?”
I knew Todd, but not very well. We saw each other socially about once a week for our FHE. Looking back, we actually had a lot in common ie interests, history, religion(although my family was never LDS), similar degrees (i majored in mechanical engineering, him biomechanical engineering), odd behavior…
I wonder how many people actually understand the reference in his suicide letter. It’s not the ramblings of a maniac. I had no idea that Todd and I had similar taste in literature as well.