How Nate Berkus Is Helping Honor Gay Suicide Victim Seth Walsh

Today marks the first day of winter, and the closure of a fall season that in many ways was particularly tragic, at least for LGBT youth. Rewind back to September, and the stories of anti-gay bullying that permeated the media. In the days and weeks that followed, stories of LGBT youth (or those who were perceived to be LGBT) who took their own lives to escape bullying and torment from classmates became all too frequent. These deaths so visible in the public eye made very real statistics that have been around for quite some time -- statistics that show that LGBT youth face bullying and harassment in the classroom at epidemic levels.

One of the stories to come out was that of Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old California student who hung himself in his own backyard to get away from anti-gay bullying. From fifth grade on, Seth experienced taunts and violence from his classmates, all because he was gay. They called him "queer" and "faggot," they tripped him, and pushed him in the halls. When Seth's mother, Wendy, went to school administrators to alert them, she was told that they would deal with the issue next year.

Seth Walsh died at a California hospital on September 28, nine days after his mother found him hanging from a tree in the backyard.

Wendy Walsh released a video last week, in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), talking about her son's death, and why his death (and the deaths of many other LGBT youth) should be a wake up call for all Americans that we're failing in our promise to keep schools safe.

"Seth's school did not care. If they did care about Seth, they would have addressed the problem," Wendy Walsh said. "Seth told me he was gay when he was in the sixth grade. He was a wonderful, loving child, and I loved him for who he was. I can't bring my son back. But schools can make a difference today to keep this from happening to any more young people."

That's a message that openly gay talk show host and designer Nate Berkus wants to follow up on. On December 29, the Nate Berkus Show will run an episode featuring Wendy Walsh. And the show will honor her son Seth in a pretty powerful way.

Berkus teamed up with the New York City LGBT Community Center, and styled a room at the organization in honor of Seth's life. He surprised Wendy Walsh and the rest of Seth's family by unveiling the room on the show, during a segment where Wendy speaks about 'rebuilding a home after tragedy.'

What a powerful thing for the Community Center to do, and a great way to not only remember Seth's life, but to lift up the issue of school safety once again. As Wendy made clear in her video with the ACLU last week, her son's situation underscores the need for legislation like the Student Non-Discrimination Act, and for schools on a district-level to address anti-gay bullying and harassment. Failure to do so, as Wendy can attest, will only lead to tragic outcomes.

Photo credit: Nate Berkus Show