I'd like to direct your attention an article by Rev. Irene Monroe in Bay Windows: Massachusetts' Throw-away Kids
I would have altered Rev. Monroe's intro a bit: Massachusetts "could become" one of the nations friendliest places for LGBTQ people, but first the legislature would need to pass An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights.
But I won't object to the rest of what she said. The private institution of the home is one of the most unsafe places for LGBT youth. Queer kids are disproportionately thrown out of their homes by their parents.
While homelessness of teen and youth populations are often attributed to family neglect, family tragedy, poverty, AIDS, drug abuse, eviction, or being aged out of foster care, our LGBT teen and youth populations that are homeless are, first and foremost, if not solely, because of their sexual orientation.
I would have added "or gender identity".
The message is indeed, that the adults in "these homes would rather have no child than a queer child".
Teens with a sexual minority orientation are more likely than heterosexual teens to be unaccompanied and homeless rather than part of a homeless family. ...These teens face enormous risks and all types of obstacles to succeeding in school and are in need of a great deal of assistance.
--Dr. Heather Corliss, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine. Children's Hospital
Unfortunately, when it comes time to enumerate the atrocities, the data collectors once again have moved from LGBT to LGB. I've seen that a lot lately.
Data from the 2005 and 2007 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS), which surveyed 6,317 Massachusetts public high school students in grades 9 through 12, reveal the following:
- Overall, less than 5 percent of students identified as GLB, yet they made up 19 percent of those identifying as homeless;
- Homelessness among heterosexual students came in at 3.2 percent. This rate increased to 15 percent among bisexual students, and 25 percent among lesbian/gay students;
- Homelessness among those unsure of their sexual orientation was also disproportionately high at 20 percent;
- Fifteen percent of male teens identifying as gay were unaccompanied by parents/guardians, while just 8 percent were homeless but living with a parent;
- Among girls identifying as lesbian, 22.5 percent were homeless without parental or guardian supervision. Similar trends were found for bisexuals and those unsure of their sexual orientation.
Although this study ignored trans youth, we know that that segment of our population is at even higher risk of homelessness, especially transkids of color.
And because of a lesser tolerance for bisexual and transgender youth, they are at a disproportionately higher risk of becoming homeless.
--"Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness", National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, June 2006
Rev. Munroe has written about this before. On one occasion, she got the following response at The Black Commentator:
Given that our resources are tight & these youth are not at all psychologically prepared for our liberation struggle, they are expendable. Such are the realities of war. It’s gonna take all of our resources to salvage the heterosexual youth, who will hopefully form strong, loving, heterosexual relationships & produce healthy children. This is how we will produce a strong black nation/community. The dysfunctional youth you are asking us to rescue cannot/will not be able to make the contribution we need, so they are expendable.
Rev. Munroe finishes with:
When we don’t accept the belief that all of human life is of equal worth, but rather promulgate the mean-spirited notion that some of us are expendable, then those most at risk and at the margins will always be deemed as society’s throw-aways.
So what can you personally do, dear reader?
If you live in certain areas, you can help out the people who are helping out.
Ali Forney Center, New York City
Hetrick-Martin Institute, NYC
Cape & Islands Gay & Straight Youth Alliance, Cape Cod
The Attic Youth Center, Philadelphia
Wanda Alston House, Washington, DC
YouthPride, Atlanta
Center on Halsted Youth Program, Chicago
Kansas City Passages, Kansas City, MO
Jeff Griffith Youth Center, Los Angeles
Youth Program @ the Center, San Francisco
Hillcrest Youth Center, San Diego
The Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center, Portland, OR
Lambert House, Seattle
We are trying here in the Newark area. So far we have Project WOW. How about where you live? If you know a LGBT Youth Center near where you live, how about letting us now how to support it?
If there isn't one, how about finding out why there isn't and/or putting a bug in someone's ear.