Brody's Notes... Grandfather: Gay Teen Endured Daily Punishments: Finally, Young Seth Walsh Couldn't Take Any More

Jim Walsh   Photo By Rick Loomis The LA Times

Jim Walsh, the grandfather of Seth Walsh, says that when the teenager smiled, "he smiled with his whole face. ... He really meant that smile for you." Seth, 13, hanged himself after being confronted in a Tehachapi park. 

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) OCT 8 | Retired school principal Jim Walsh and his wife Judy, herself a retired schoolteacher and school board member, recalled that their thirteen year old grandson Seth was;

 "A was gentle child, they say, who preferred to "relocate bugs" rather than kill them, who made sure his younger brother got his share of Easter eggs and who once apologised to a bed of flowers when he picked one and placed it on the grave of the family dog."

In an article published in today's edition of The Los Angeles Times, the Walsh's speak out about their grandson in an interview with LA Times journalist Thomas Curwen. They tell him that they want to make sure their grandson isn't remembered only as "the gay kid who hung himself," so they tell stories about a bright and precocious child who enjoyed playing with their dog, Bambi, and who liked the Jonas Brothers and Magic Mountain.

Curwen writes:

"They accept that Seth's suicide — along with the suicides of Tyler Clementi, 18, Billy Lucas, 15, and Asher Brown, 13, all within two and a half weeks — is now part of a national conversation about the consequences of being harassed and being young and gay."

The Walsh family is trying to make sense of the tragedy. They are wondering what to do as the holidays approach. Perhaps they'll set a place at the table for Seth. They aren't sure. For now, though, there is disbelief.

"I had no idea there was that much pain inside of him. He was a sweet kid who found the world cruel," Judy says, "but he didn't understand cruelty."

Read Curwen's entire article at The Los Angeles Times, Column One here: [ Link ]