Growing Up Gay As Told by Nate Berkus
'I spent my allowance buying decorative boxes on my way home from the bus stop’
Home design guru Nate Berkus says his new book, The Things That Matter, was not supposed to be a memoir. But he couldn't help but share part about himself as he wrote about his and other people's homes.
'Everyone has their story and I think a story should be reflected in the home,' he said Thursday (18 October) on Current TV's Jay Behar: Say Anything. 'I realized that being gay, growing up around design, that losing my partner in the tsunami that I had traveled the world with and seen things that I never thought I would see, that all shaped and formed my own personal style so I included my home in the book.'
Berkus and photographer Fernando Bengoechea were vacationing at a beach resort in Sri Lanka when the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hit. Berkus survived but Bengoechea went missing and is presumed dead.
He talked about the ordeal and came out publicly during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show on which he appeared frequently before going on to have his own daytime show for two years.
Although Berkus said he knew from a very young age that he was gay, his mother did not.
'She made me play baseball. I had no desire to do that,' he recalled. 'I said, 'Mom, I don't like direct sunlight, I don't like bugs, I don't like grass, and I'd rather be in the house playing with your fabric samples. I spent my allowance buying decorative boxes on my way home from the bus stop.'
He finally came out in college.
'Once I came out, I never went back,' he said. 'Most people come out when they are leaving for something, like Thanksgiving: Thanks for the turkey, I'm gay, see you later!'
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