I’m glad you had a better experience with your faith than I did.

My senior year of high school, a very close friend of mine committed suicide because he was outed to his family, as part of stupid high school prank. His father was a local leader (Stake Presidency), and basically the Mormon mold family (10 kids, blonde hair, blue eyes, financially well off, you know the type).

To this day (more than 25 years on) his family is in denial about this. How do I know? Because I’m married to his sister. The family (at least the older brothers and sisters, and parents) have told themselves it was because he was suffering depression due to his drug use.

I was very close to this person, we went to school together, attended early morning seminary together, played sports together, and to the best of my knowledge, he never once touched drugs or alcohol. He did not seem depressed to me at anytime, but to be fair, I was 17 years old and not a clinical psychologist at the time. I’m not a clinical psychologist now, but I was one then either.

Those who knew him, and the situation, agree that he could not bear the thought of being outed to his dad, and this was his escape. He had heard what the church thought of him, and those like him, including his own parents, for years. He needs an out, and that was the most reasonable option to him based on what he had heard.

I’m getting emotional in this thread, and apologize for any offense. I’m going to step away from Reddit for the evening to allow myself to bring my emotional level back down.

I’ve genuinely enjoyed our conversation and hope to see you in threads in the future