About two seconds ago I was browsing the WordPress home page. On the page are a number of links to other peoples’ blog posts. The links are joined by pictures relating to the posts. One picture in perticular popped out at me. The picture was a young male looking into the camera. The title underneath his picture was “Another Suicide. Not Just a Number.”

Take a moment to think. Are you gay? Are you a lesbian? Are you thinking about suicide? I sincerely hope that isn’t on your mind. How about this question, are you afraid to share your sexual orientation with the world? How many of you are afraid of judgment or stereotyping or even abuse? I know there are a lot of questions, but I only ask them because the post that I read is about a 19 year old college student named Raymond Chase committed suicide on Wednesday. No one will ever know why he took his own life but the post’s opening sentence says, “On Wednesday night, openly-gay 19 year old Raymond Chase took his own life by hanging himself in his door room.” What question does that spark in your head?