Geoffrey Quentin McCaully Hubbard (January 6, 1954 – November 12, 1976), was the son of
Scientology founder
L. Ron Hubbard and his third wife,
Mary Sue Hubbard. He died at the age of 22 in an apparent
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
.
After Ron's eldest son
Ron Jr. quit Scientology in 1959, Ron chose Quentin as his successor to lead the organization. Quentin went to sea with Ron when he established the
Sea Organization
The Sea Organization (also known as the Sea Org) is a Scientology organization, which the Church of Scientology describes as a " fraternal religious order, comprising the religion’s most dedicated members". All Scientology management organizat ...
, living on the flagship ''
Apollo'' and reaching the highest level of
auditor training. He disagreed with his father's plans, sometimes saying that he wanted to be a
pilot, and in 1974 that he would like to be a dancer. Soon after this, a friend found him in the midst of a suicide attempt. Quentin survived this attempt and was assigned to the
Rehabilitation Project Force.
Former Scientologists have said that Quentin was
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
,
and that this clearly caused him a great deal of personal torment as
Scientology doctrine classified homosexuals as "sexual pervert
and "quite ill physically."
Another source close to him claims that rumors of his homosexuality were due to his sometimes claiming to be that way in order to discourage women who were interested in him, to protect them from the consequences of his father's disapproval.
[Pignotti, Monica (August 1989)]
"My Nine Lives in Scientology"
Carnegie Mellon University. "Quentin and I came very close to getting involved sexually, but we didn't because he told me that several years earlier, he had become sexually involved with a young woman and she had been sent off the ship when his father found out. He didn't want to get me into that kind of trouble, so we remained good friends." Quentin is described as having had a gentle demeanor, with none of his father's bombast.
[Atack (1990); p. 214]
In 1975 the Sea Org moved to shore in
Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...
. Quentin was assigned to operations there but was often absent.
Police discovered him unconscious in his car in
Las Vegas on October 28, 1976, without any identifying documents. L. Ron Hubbard was furious at the news, shouting, "That stupid fucking kid! Look what he's done to me!"
[Miller (1987); pp. 344-345] Quentin died two weeks later without having regained consciousness.
[
Although there had been a hose from the car's window to the tailpipe, a test for carbon monoxide was negative. Mary Sue Hubbard told Scientologists that Quentin had died from ]encephalitis
Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...
.[ L. Ron Hubbard is said to have deteriorated rapidly after Quentin's death, becoming dishevelled and increasingly paranoid. Strangely, the licence plate for the car was found near a rock by the car to go alongside a near-empty liquor bottle and needle marks present on Hubbard.]
References
Further reading
Coroner's report and death certificate
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Quentin
1954 births
1976 suicides
American Scientologists
L. Ron Hubbard family
Scientology-related controversies
Suicides by gas
Suicides in Nevada