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At the Ali Forney Center in New York City, the country’s largest organization
dedicated to housing LGBT youth, they host parties and dispense gifts, but it’s
a poor substitute for family.
“We work hard to make Christmas as joyful as possible,” says Executive
Director Carl Siciliano, “But we only have the resources to provide 57
beds, and in the entire city there are fewer than 300 beds for
a homeless youth population that numbers 3,800 per night.”
The Center for American Progress estimates that there are as many as
three million homeless youth in the United States, and a
disproportionate 20-40 percent of them identify as LGBT. Of that
subgroup, the vast majority are African-American or Latino.
They are thrown out of their homes by families who do not
accept them, or they flee fearing ridicule or retribution. It is
estimated that 1 in 4 gay youth experience homelessness after coming out to
their families.
In New York City, the average age that gay or lesbian youth become
homeless is 14 years old. For transgender youth, it is 13.
Most homeless youth sleep in city parks, subways, and other public
facilities. For those not fortunate enough to find shelter, the
experience is unspeakable. Most find little choice but to engage in “survival
sex,” trading their bodies for money, food, drugs, or a place to stay—sleeping
in a stranger’s bed is better than sleeping in the deadly cold.
As a result, homeless LGBT youth show significantly higher rates of
HIV infection and are more frequently the victims of rape.
More than 60% attempt suicide.
It’s difficult for me to imagine a greater suffering within our
community than that experienced by abandoned LGBT youth. We should make
protecting them a top priority, and fight aggressively to sustain environments
where LGBT youth can be housed and supported without fearing attack or
exploitation.
Under George W. Bush, federal tax dollars were denied to such
groups ...
The Obama administration recognized the problem and reversed course,
listing LGBT youth as a specific target group in its fight against homelessness
and providing funding to organizations like the Ali Forney Center.
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is slashing funding for homeless youth
programs. The two drop-in centers for LGBT youth are having their budgets cut by
50%, and the street outreach programs are being eliminated
altogether.
To donate to the Ali Forney Center and help the kids they support
have a better holiday season, please donate at https://www.aliforneycenter.org/help.html
Chase Whiteside is a guest columnist at 365gay.com while John
Corvino, “The Gay Moralist,” is on break. Whiteside is one half of the
documentary film organization New Left Media: https://newleftmedia.com
