Seth Walsh, California Teen Who Endured Gay Taunts, Commits Suicide

Seth Walsh, California Teen Who Endured Gay Taunts, Commits Suicide

A 13-year-old Central California boy who was a target of taunts from classmates has died nine days after hanging himself from a tree.

Seth Walsh had been in a coma since he was found unconcious in his Tehachapi backyard Sept. 19.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/seth-walsh-california-tee_n_744605.html

Seth Walsh (YouTube)

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20018025-504083.html


Rest in peace, Seth.

Seth Walsh: Gay 13-Year-Old Hangs Self After Reported Bullying

Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old California middle school student, died in the hospital on Tuesday, days after he attempted to take his own life after reportedly enduring relentless bullying.

[snip]

Friends told NBC affiliate KGET that Seth had been picked on for years because he was gay.

Police investigators interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he hanged himself, and determined despite the tragic outcome of their ridicule, their actions do not constitute a crime, reported KGET.

[snip]

"He was different. He knew he was different," Seth's mother, Judy Walsh said according to TehachapiNews.com. "He was a very loving boy, very kind. He had a beautiful smile. He liked fashion, his friends, talking on the phone. He was artistic and very bright."

Judy Walsh hopes her son's death is a wake up call to the community to "develop more tolerance for different people."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20018025-504083.html

Mother of Gay Suicide Victim: Anti-Gay Bullying Is Killing Our Kids
December 16, 2010

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/vi..._victim_anti-gay_bullying_is_killing_our_kids

--snipped--

"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."

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y5CbtXoO74[/ame]