Meet Lance Lundsten, age 18. Lance was an openly gay student at Jefferson High School in Miltona, Minn, when he committed suicide Saturday Jan 15th.
Many of Lance's friends say he was bullied continuously in school because of his sexual orientation.
From the story:
Around 10 p.m. Saturday the Douglas County Sheriff's Office responded to an emergency call at the Lundsten's residence in Miltona.
When officers arrived, they discovered 18-year-old Lance Lundsten needing emergency medical care. Lundsten was transported to the Douglas County Hospital where he later died.
The Sheriff's Office confirmed to KSAX that they believed Lundsten's death was a suicide. The Sheriff would not confirm the nature of the medical emergency.
According to his Facebook page, Lundsten was openly gay. On a Facebook memorial page in Lundsten's honor, friends said that Lundsten had been bullied at school for his sexual orientation. Some students who knew Lundsten believed the bullying may have led to his suicide.
Another Jefferson High School student started a Facebook group following Lundsten's death called the Jefferson Anti-Bully Coalition.
UPDATE 3/7/2011:
According to KSAX, Lance's death has been formally ruled a suicide due to mixed drug ingestion. There had been some speculation that an enlarged heart might have been the cause of death, but this has now been ruled out.
Sources:
http://ksax.com/article/stories/S2005847.shtml?cat=10230
http://ksax.com/article/stories/s1928689.shtml
http://prideinutah.com/?p=8242
