Marie Osmond's Son Commits Suicide

[suebee]

Anyone who's been touched in any way by depression has got to feel the pain. Eighteen years old, he killed himself after a life-long battle with severe depression. Story here.

I've been in that place I call the "black hole" myself, but was able to find my way back. My heart goes out to the Osmond family.

There is a support thread on this site for those affected by depression. You'll find it here. If you're feeling suicidal, please contact a health professional. Don't let the black hole swallow you up. There's hope.

Sue

[Miss Scarlett]

How very sad for her and her family.

How awful, and one so young.

At times like this fame and fortune mean little, my thoughts are with the Osmond family.

[bigbutchmistie]

So sad. My prayers go out to her and their family. Its so sad.

[Diva]

This breaks my heart for her and the rest of the Osmonds.........

[Soft*Silver]

oh my ... oh my.... prayers and love and light to that whole family...what they are going to go thru...how sad for him, in that he did not or felt he could not reach out to someone. I find myself holding my breath as I read and think about this tragedy...

[Andrew, Jr.]

I am so saddened by this news. It doesn't matter to me if it is a celebrity, or a kid next store, or whom ever...it is pure devistation to me. I can so relate to that hopelessness, and suffering, like when my younger brother took his own life. I know what it did to my family.

I will be praying for and lighting my white candle for the entire Osmand Family, relatives, friends, and the fans of Marie/Donnie in Vegas as well.

Andrew

[Soon]

"Marie Osmond's poor gay son killed himself because he had been told how wrong and how sick he was every day of his life by his church and the people in it. Calling that 'depression' is a lie! Yet the Osmonds still talk lovingly about their church, saying nothing about its extremely anti-gay Crusade. Marie also has a gay daughter!

"Hey, I want her and all the gay kids in the world to know that they are just fine being gay and that they deserve love and respect instead of insults and rebuke! I have gay people in my family and my circle of friends and I am kicking bigot ass and taking names! That is how its done in my religion---(I have my own religion that I made up for myself and it is a great religion that actually works and respects facts and not fantasy!) [snip]

"Yet even though the people they say they love the most in all of their public displays and speeches (THEIR KIDS AND FAMILY!!) are gay,-- their own children, for crying out loud- these people cannot find the Christian decency and compassion within themselves to stop their hypocritical gay bashing!! How sickening. I know so many Mormon kids who were gay and committed suicide, and I just cannot and will not stay quiet in order to not offend bigots anymore. It is all so terribly depressing.

"Marie please don't talk about how your faith in your church has helped you get through this one! Please get some integrity and tell that church of yours that you will leave it and stop giving it ten percent of your money if they don't stop trying to destroy your kids' and all gay people's civil rights and dreams and hopes!!" - Roseanne Barr, writing on her personal blog.

[suebee]

I certainly have no personal knowlege of Marie Osmond's son's sexual orientation. He could well have been gay. But I'm just not that terribly sure how responsible it is to use Roseanne Barr's personal blog as an information source.

[Soon]

Originally Posted by cybersuebee

I certainly have no personal knowlege of Marie Osmond's son's sexual orientation. He could well have been gay. But I'm just not that terribly sure how responsible it is to use Roseanne Barr's personal blog as an information source.

Just sharing Barr's opinion--I'm not positing that her opinion of Marie's son's orientation is an actuality.

That being said, I do think she makes very good points regarding acceptance, and I can appreciate her rant about the Mormon Church (in this case), and the potentially destructive effects their bigoted teachings have on lgbt youth.

[ruthie14]

Just my own personal experience with the mormon church and homosexuality. I came out of the closet and my daughter who is mormon, has not spoken to me since. Her mormon husband and certainly her church have forbidden her. I love her and miss her very much!

[AtLast]

Terribly sad. I have not viewed any media info on this, so reserving any opinion about it in terms of how he was raised, or religious factors. And also, what role his being gay actually played. I have no idea if he was gay. Just the fact that this is a suicide makes me feel badly.

I don't have a lot of love for the LDS religion per se, but also have known LDS families that accepted their gay kids. There is also a LDS gay association in SF. I think that like many religions, there exist more liberal offshoots that do not accept the LDS doctrines as truth. But, I do think that this is extremely difficult when a family is in the heart of LDS country such as in Utah. people do leave this and may still have a belief in God likened to what they grew up with as LDS, but I can't just throw all LDS people into one pile.

I have never cared for Barr and don't put much stock in her statements. Frankly, I find them cruel (and really just gossip) in terms of someone having a child suicide. We don't know what was really going on in that family or with Osmond's son.

[Luv]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvkpAs9F68c"]YouTube- Marie Osmond on her lesbian daughter Jessica and gay rights[/ame]

[Soon]

I knew Marie was supportive of her lesbian daughter and even equal rights; still doesn't (for me) negate the harm that the Mormon Church--as an organization--has done to queer kids (not saying that he was) and our community as a whole.

As for Roseanne, she wrote another statement following her initial one:

March 7, 2010

I am very sorry that I said anything about Marie Osmond's son

I saw on the front page of a tabloid that he had killed himself because he could not handle being gay, and I wrote about how angry that made me, after seeing it hundreds of times, growing up as I did in Utah. I don't know the Osmonds, but was always offended at their constant defense of the indefensible things that their church does, the way it promotes hatred and racism and sexism, tax free.

I have known so many gay people who killed themselves, or suffered and that is why I put myself on the line to bring TV's first gay characters to America. I never intended for my comments to be picked up and broadcast on sleazy gossip TV shows, or on other blogs. That was done without my consent or knowledge.

I always intended that my remarks are directed to Power, and always on behalf of its victims. I am sorry to have hurt Marie Osmond, who is the most open minded person in her whole family. I really apologize to her. I thought about waiting to say what I had to say, but then I thought that perhaps there was no better time to add to the conversations in America about homophobia.

Alot of people know they are gay at age three, and I just feel that is why parents should keep little ones away from organizations that tell them from an early age that they are sick and going to hell and not worth the love of God. That is so vile, and a large part of the reason that I never sent my own kids to any synagogue or other religious place ever. You never know if your kids are gay, and aside from that, why would you want to take any of them to a place to learn about God, that teaches hate?

I really encourage parents to stop destroying their children by doing that. It is not good family values. Being gay is not a choice. I didn't choose to be straight anymore than my siblings chose to be gay, or we chose to be born Jews in SLC, where we were all tormented daily by hateful Mormon neighbors (not all of them were hateful, but too many were).

Anyway, I apologize again for having added to another mother's pain, and have asked myself if I should have said nothing at all, or waited a while to say what I said. I really don't know. I think it's good to get people talking about being more aware of what we accept, and i know that my comments got people talking.
The hateful letters I have received from the darkest minds of all, the religious, have made me re-think ever adding my views or my voice to anything ever again in this country. It's a scary time in America, for everybody, but especially for people like me who have a less sanitized view of all of it.

I will leave this up for a while, and then I am just done. I appreciate the letters from gay people who thank me for speaking out on their behalf, but y'all are just going to have to take up the slack I will be leaving behind me. I am old now and tired, and not really feeling up to being the only person who says things that no one else will say.

It definitely is not a good way to live my life anymore. I don't want to end up a martyr for truth. I have felt that people expect me to be loud and outspoken, and I was happy to play that role for many years. I have enjoyed being a comedian and provoking not just laughs, but thinking.

I do not appreciate being accused of using the death of a young suffering person to seek publicity. That is so vile a thought to me, and the people who say it so vile and ignorant, that I feel my absence from the public is desirable. I am done.

I again want to encourage Marie to come through this tragedy as a stronger woman who has alot of power to get bad things in the world changed, starting in her own church. I know that tragedy makes a person rethink their place in the world, and I send her all good thoughts for healing. Anyway, that's that.

She also posted this video:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm3sHEW8k0U"]YouTube- Mormons Teach Homosexuality is next to Murder![/ame]

[Soft*Silver]

my brother committed suicide when he was 24. I was 18. He used a shot gun. There are so many details floating in memories that are too grotesque to share here. But I will say this...Roseanne's blog is pretty much what to expect when someone you love commits suicide. At least from my own experience. I cant believe what came out of people's mouths..its as if they had lost all social sense. People told me my brother was going to burn in hell for taking his own life. And I had to live down what he did. And that he was a coward. And they wondered if he had gotten a girl pregnant. (back in the days this was a horrible mess) or was he a "queer" or did he have a drinking problem?

At the time, it made me bitter...and I slammed shut so no one could get to my core, which had just been skinned open by his violent death. Its when I started to drink, so I could numb out the autrocity of his death and the stupidity of how people responded to it.

Now, after sobriety and therapy, I realize those people didnt know better. I can forgive them for adding salt into the wounds. That doesnt make what they did,right. In fact, it is SO wrong that I spend awhole lot of time in my personal life educating people about suicide. I dont want anyone to go thru what I went thru.

Roseanne was way off base for saying what she did. She needs to understand that once you say something, it lasts a lifetime. She needs to think before she speaks...

[Andrew, Jr.]

My younger brother committed suicide when he was just 15 yo. What started the whole chain of events was he took out the family car after Dad told him not too. He had an accident with the car. And from there it just went downhill.

People do say horrible things when someone commits suicide. Things that they say are mind blowing.

People also say horrible things when my sister, Jo died from skin cancer. The things they said to us, and her 2 boys...just unbelieveable.

I wish there was a course in ettiquette on handling death. No matter what the situation is, or how it happened.

[Apocalipstic]

Has anyone here met Marie Osmond?

I have and I must say I am thrilled that I am not related ot her.

So sad her son died, I completely understand how difficult it is to grow up gay in a church who believes gays are abominations. I hope someday churches like that will clue in to what they are doing to people.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Was Marie's son really gay or is that a rumor? I thought she had a lesbain daughter.

My younger brother was bullied in school. He wasn't muscular or part of the "in" crowd. I think that was a huge part of his actions that day.

[Apocalipstic]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Was Marie's son really gay or is that a rumor? I thought she had a lesbain daughter.

My younger brother was bullied in school. He wasn't muscular or part of the "in" crowd. I think that was a huge part of his actions that day.

Oh, I have no idea...I tought people earlier in the thread said he was.

I never met him, but I have "met" Marie. Several times.

[Soft*Silver]

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

Oh, I have no idea...I tought people earlier in the thread said he was.

I never met him, but I have "met" Marie. Several times.

cocking my head...pausing over the word in quotes.

I sense there is a story here....