Nate Berkus to Greg In Hollywood: “I’ve never defined myself by being gay, I’ve defined myself by being me.”

The Nate Berkus Show will premiere on Sept. 13 and will mark the first time an openly gay man is hosting a nationally syndicated daytime talk show.

Nate Berkus is the interior designer who we’ve gotten to know through his frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and he will be talking to people from all walks of life about their lives and their experiences.

His first guest will be Elizabeth Edwards and when I chatted with Nate a few days ago at a TV Critics Association Press Tour party, we talked about the brave and resilient wife of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

I’ll share what Nate had to say about her and about the format of the new show a few weeks down the road when the show gets closer to airdate.

For now, I want to share what Nate had to say about being a gay man on television.

Nate’s life became more public in December 2004 when he and his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea were vacationing at a beach resort in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean tsunami hit. While Nate survived, Fernando is missing and presumed dead.

Nate appeared on Oprah on January 17, 2005, to talk about his ordeal and the loss of his love.

“I’ve never defined myself by being gay, I’ve defined myself by being me,” Nate told me. “I’m a son, I’m a brother, I’m an uncle, I’m a gay man. Everybody has lots of different sides to them.”

“But what was really interesting to me was that after I survived the tsunami and lost my partner in 2004, I got so many letter from kids around the country who decided to come out watching what a relationship that they wanted to have for themselves could be like. I was so grateful to Oprah for telling that story not as a gay couple that went through a tragedy but as a couple that went through a tragedy. I do feel a responsibility but it’s not a responsibility because I’m a gay man and on daytime television. It’s a responsibility to the people  who are giving me an hour of their day and I want to set the best example that I can.”