LGBTQ Homeless Youth

Published December 12, 2008 @ 04:07PM PT

Mad props to Shannon Moriarity, change.org's "End Homelessness" blogger. She has a great post up right now on the alarming prevalence of homelessness among LGBTQ youth. Per Shannon's post:

Gay youth are disproportionately represented among homeless youth, according to a study released this week. Roughly 20 percent of homeless youth self-identify as LGBTQ... and that's a conservative estimate. Homeless LGBTQ youth are more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse than their heterosexual peers. Even more disconcerting is that the social service safety net to catch these troubled teens is, in many communities, nonexistent.

The stats here are alarming, but there's definitely things we can do in order to help change this trend around. Check out Shannon's post, as well as a report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) detailing the research on LGBTQ homelessness. As NAEH research shows, between 240,000 and 400,000 LGBTQ youth experience at least one episode of homelessness each year in the United States. That's not only alarming, it's unacceptable.

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Comments (4)

If the LGBT community has its Achilles heel, it is the lack of adequate organizations to deal with our particular teen boys and girls who are in danger of abuse from parents or guardians or worse, loss of their homes. Then, our distressed and homeless teens are prime victims of pimps and drug pushers.

The PFLAG organization has some programs and GLESEN does as well. If we do not care for our own children, we cannot expect the Right Wing to do anything but spiritually abuse them.

Posted by A B on 12/12/2008 @ 06:39PM PT
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No one should be abused, or treated differently, or hated, or be homeless because of their sexual preference, or their religion, or their skin color, or because of a limitation they may have, and these freedoms are American. Freedom of choice also known as 'Free Will'. Even the bible teaches not to hate, and that we have free will. We are all equal, we are all human. The bible teaches about having natural affection for your fellow man. That means to love each other as equal humans. Have commpasion for anyones suffering.

Posted by Carrie Klossner on 12/12/2008 @ 07:33PM PT
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Mr. Welch:

I do not know who contacted you to spread your lies, but since you are here for some spiritual and verbal violence, allow me to state that those statistics about longevity comes straight (pun intended) from Cameron, the very discredited psychologist at odds with all scientific data.

His own professional associations have long ago barred him from membership and has credence from the Right Wing theocrats who fund him, like Focus on the Family. We have in our lexicon, a co-founder of FOF who broke with Dobson and apologized for the spiritual violence against our families.

There are individuals who come here to dialogue and to discuss. You were here to spew your spiritually violent venom. I have reported you, and hope that you are banned from this site. There are places on the web where you can share your hate speech with your kind.

Posted by A B on 12/13/2008 @ 05:32AM PT
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Dear Friends,

If you have something spiritual on tap this Sunday, or not, please visit www.soulforce.org and look at the featured front page video produced by them and it is called 'DONT TELL ME WHO TO LOVE....and bring some tissues to the computer.

Posted by A B on 12/14/2008 @ 08:54AM PT
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Author

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He is the former Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, as well as the former Director of Communications for Pax Christi USA, a national Catholic peace and justice organization. Mike is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and he is also a proud sketch comedy writer.