Mother of Gay Suicide Victim: Anti-Gay Bullying Is Killing Our Kids

by Michael Jones · 2010-12-16 11:57:00 UTC
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Seth Walsh was a 13-year-old student in California. He was bright, intelligent, and did really well in school. He was also gay, and because of that, he was relentlessly teased and taunted by his peers. In fifth grade kids started calling him "gay." By seventh grade, Seth was regularly called "queer" and "fag" in the halls, and felt so scared for his safety that he was hesitant to use the restroom or be in the locker room. It's also alleged that one teacher called Seth "fruity" in front of the entire classroom.

On September 19, 2010, Seth hanged himself in the backyard of his house. His mother, Wendy Walsh, found his body. He was taken to a hospital, where he was on life support for nine days. He died on September 28.

Seth's story is a heartbreaking reminder that our schools are just not safe, particularly for LGBT youth. And now, Wendy Walsh is speaking out about the dangerous climate her son faced, and the environment that led to her son to feel like he had nowhere to turn but suicide.

In a video with the ACLU, Wendy Walsh faces the camera, and reads from the suicide note that Seth left. Wendy also makes it clear that we all have the responsibility to end anti-gay bullying.

"Mom, Amanda, Shane, Shawn: I love you. Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure," Seth said. "I know this will bring you much pain, but I will hopefully be in a better place than this shithole."

Simply chilling. Wendy is coming forward with her story to show how urgent it is for schools across the country to deal with the very real epidemic of LGBT suicide and anti-gay bullying. It's why she's lent her voice in support of nationwide legislation known as the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would put LGBT students on equal footing with their peers.

"Seth was a beautiful person. He was funny, he was artistic, he loved to read," Wendy recounts in her video. "Seth's death was an accumulation of events over years."

Wendy says that the reaction she got from local school officials was nothing more than, Oh, we'll deal with the problem next school year. But now next school year is too late, just like it's too late for students in Minnesota, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and scores of other locations around the country, where LGBT students have felt so targeted, that they took their own lives.

Check out Wendy Walsh's heartfelt and heartbreaking video below. And please, send Congress a message that the Student Non-Discrimination Act is not only critical, it's urgent.


Photo credit: ACLU

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.

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