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 Homeless
Runaway Gay Youth Crisis
by The Associated Press
Posted: January 30, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(New York City) Two national advocacy groups
today accused the federal government of neglecting what they described as an
epidemic of homelessness affecting tens of thousands of gay and lesbian youth,
many of whom leave home because of conflicts with their parents.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the
National Coalition for the Homeless said gay, lesbian and transgender youth make
up at least 20 percent - possibly as much as 40 percent - of the total number of
homeless and runaway youth, a fluid population which experts have estimated at
575,000 to 1.6 million each year.
"The national response to this epidemic has
been nothing short of disgraceful," Matt Foreman, executive director of the
task force, told reporters during a teleconference.
He urged Congress to increase appropriations for
the federal Runaway, Homeless and Missing Children Protection Act, which must be
reauthorized next year, and said some federal funds should - for the first time
- be targeted specifically at boosting programs to aid gay and lesbian youth.
Citing incidents of anti-gay harassment at
homeless shelters, the task force and homeless coalition recommended that some
shelter space be set aside solely for gay youth. They also said any organization
seeking public funding to serve homeless youth should be required to prove its
staff would treat gay and lesbian young people competently and fairly.
In a report completed in December, "An
Epidemic of Homelessness," the two groups cited estimates that roughly
one-fourth of gay and lesbian teens are kicked out of their homes after their
parents learn of their sexual orientation. The report said many gay youths
experienced physical violence during the process of coming out.
Once homeless, the report says, these young
people are more vulnerable than their peers to problems of mental health,
substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases. The report's lead author,
task force policy analyst Nicholas Ray, said about one-third of homeless gay
youth engage in "survival sex" - exchanging sex for money, food,
clothes or drugs.
Assessing existing programs for homeless youth,
the report said public funding was inadequate, and asserted that more than 6,000
youths in 2004 were turned away from programs that lacked resources to help
them.
The report also expressed concern that President
Bush's push for federal funding of faith-based organizations might lead to
situations where a church-run shelter program would discriminate against a gay
youth seeking services.
Dilo Cintron, 25, a gay man who spent five years
homeless in New York City, said staff at one shelter he used were so
unsympathetic that they once walked by without intervening while he was being
assaulted in a laundry room.
According to Ray, gay youths at a homeless
shelter in Michigan were required to wear orange jump suits to distinguish them
from other youths.
The report also cited several programs that were
providing effective services to gay youth, including Green Chimneys in New York
City, Waltham House in Waltham, Mass., the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, Ozone
House in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Urban Peak in Denver.
©365Gay.com 2007
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