On September 19, 2010, a thirteen year old boy named Seth Walsh hung himself. His mother found him and brought him to the hospital, where he stayed on life support for over a week. The story made headlines during an uptick in media reporting on suicides of gay teens. Seth was bullied relentlessly at his school and despite the fact that his family knew he was gay and accepted him, he could no longer take the abuse. His death raised all sorts of questions about bullying and a school's responsibility to stop it, about being hated for being gay, and it brought to mind the question of when, exactly, gay teens are supposed to feel accepted, and normal enough to want to stay alive.
Seth's eleven year old brother spoke out about his death, saying that bullying is never okay, that one word can make someone have suicidal thoughts. His brother, Shawn, spoke at his funeral: