California teen who killed himself after enduring taunts for being gay memorialized
By APSaturday, October 2, 2010
Calif teenager who endured gay taunts memorialized
TEHACHAPI, Calif. — More than 500 people attended a memorial service for a 13-year-old central California boy who hanged himself after enduring taunts from classmates about being gay.
Seth Walsh was remembered Friday night in Tehachapi as a warm-hearted teen who loved to laugh. His mother, Judy Walsh, says the family doesn’t want to cast blame and wants the service to be a call for tolerance.
Walsh died Tuesday, nine days after he was found unconscious in his backyard. He had been in a coma.
Walsh’s death was one of a string of suicides last month involving teens believed to have been victims of anti-gay bullying. Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off a bridge to his death after video of him having an intimate encounter with a man was broadcast on the Internet.
Information from: The Bakersfield Californian, www.bakersfield.com
