Gay Homels Youth and their Liv on the Streets of New York Cy - Humany Actn

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New Alternativ creas the self-sufficiency of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and HIV+ homels youth by enablg them to transn out of the shelter system to stable adult liv.

Contents:

GAY HOMELS YOUTH AND THEIR LIV ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CY

Covenant Hoe is mted to all our lotns beg welg, affirmg, and safe for young gay homels people who intify as LGBTQ+ * gay homeless youth nyc *

DonateGet HelpTransformg LivOur MissnThe missn of the Ali Forney Center is to protect homels Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Qutng youths om the harms of homelsns and empower them wh the tools need to be pennt. Much of the recent discsn ncerng the gay muny is relegated to the topic of gay marriage. As the visibily of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr (LGBT) culture and people melt to the fabric of mastream society through TV shows such as Will and Grace or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, this has fluenced people to e out earlier and earlier, at an average age of now 15.

Such data pots to the existence of greater and urgent problems for policy makers and ernmental officials ncerng the gay homels youth. By lookg at existg servic today, or better the lack thereof, and by takg the time to actually listen to the stori of jt a few of the voluntary street kids be obv quickly that there is a strong need for awarens and muny llaboratn surroundg the issue of gay homelsns, New York Cy and across the Uned Stat.

A reprentative for an creasg group of left-out kids is the story of L., who is 24 years old and whom we met at one of the Chelsea piers on the wt si of Manhattan, a place where young gay homels youth of mostly Ain Amerin or Lato scent gather every night om as far as New Jersey to talk, rennect or dance around. As one of the few gay homels youth whose parents accepted him for his sexualy, L. There is a general lack of awarens New York Cy about the growg problem of gay homels youth.

GAY AND TRANSGENR YOUTH HOMELSNS BY THE NUMBERS

Much of the recent discsn ncerng the gay muny is relegated to the topic of gay marriage. Beg a plex issue on self be rather easy to ignore other growg issu related to this mory. One of the creasgly important on is occurrg right on the streets of Ameri’s metropolis like New York Cy. In the 1990s, the leadg e of  homelsns was the e of crack e. Today, however, is a different story, pecially for the youth. The for homels youth are no longer jt dgs or alhol, but is their sexualy. As the visibily of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr (LGBT) culture and people melt to the fabric of mastream society through TV shows such as Will and Grace or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, this has fluenced people to e out earlier and earlier, at an average age of now 15. This is a strikg difference pared to a ago when people were embracg their sexualy only llege or once they had tablished their reers and had a firm support system. The days, however distrsgly, 26 percent of those who e out before the age of 18 are kicked out of their home and end up the streets, as the Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suici revealed. A lot of tim they are abandoned bee of relig reasons, sce the ey of many relig vote beg ‘queer’ is clearly a non-acceptable qutn of choice (Ramafedi 1987). Such data pots to the existence of greater and urgent problems for policy makers and ernmental officials ncerng the gay homels youth. By lookg at existg servic today, or better the lack thereof, and by takg the time to actually listen to the stori of jt a few of the voluntary street kids be obv quickly that there is a strong need for awarens and muny llaboratn surroundg the issue of gay homelsns, New York Cy and across the Uned Stat. [perfectpullquote align="right" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""] 26 percent of those who e out before the age of 18 are kicked out of their home and end up the streets.[/perfectpullquote] One of Many: L. A reprentative for an creasg group of left-out kids is the story of L., who is 24 years old and whom we met at one of the Chelsea piers on the wt si of Manhattan, a place where young gay homels youth of mostly Ain Amerin or Lato scent gather every night om as far as New Jersey to talk, rennect or dance around. As one of the few gay homels youth whose parents accepted him for his sexualy, L. still faced problems wh his muny. Five guys bullied and molted him. In self-fense, L. stabbed one of the dividuals and was later nvicted and sent to jail for 10 days. After beg released om jail L. felt secure on the streets of his hometown and ran away to New York Cy. [perfectpullquote align="left" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]There is a general lack of awarens New York Cy about the growg problem of gay homels youth.[/perfectpullquote] Havg not much money he turned to a small food pantry hosted by the Metropolan Communy Church of New York (MCCNY) lled Sylvia’s Place that turns to a shelter for homels LGBT youth at night. There he was able to get dner, take a shower, wash his cloth and sleep on the floor. “There was only a limed number of beds, all of them one room, was sticky and loud, but at least I enjoyed beg around others wh siar backgrounds and a staff that genuely red”, L. remembers. A few months later, L. was able to enroll the Transnal Hog Program of the Ali Forney Center (AFC), an stutn which provis homels LGBT youths between the ag of 16 and 24 wh the support and servic they need to pe the streets and live healthy, pennt liv. In this two-year program, L. lived wh five other LGBT-intified youth along wh three staff members an apartment offerg him some stabily and se managers who actually ma him feel wele. He spent his nights the apartment and durg the day was volved wh the center’s day programs, om group discsns to hands on activi. At the time we met him, he told that he had worked as a go-go dancer and wh the help of the AFC he had his own apartment now that he shared wh one person. Currently he is pursug his dream: “I want to bee an actor.” It seems he has his life together, after all. In speakg wh L., he emphasized the fact that there is a general lack of awarens New York Cy about the growg problem of gay homels youth. Tourists and other visors of the docks might intify them as regular kids, bee as all teenagers they drs well: “There is ually no way to pot out the crowd”, L. lghed, “I always ma sure I looked well, bee I didn’t want anyone to know I was homels.” Wh his personal story, L. provis a better amework to unrstandg the life of a gay homels teen the Uned Stat today. The Gap the Stat Quo Acrdg to what he revealed, L. seemed to have managed to avoid havg to spend too much time on the streets. At the same time, for many others the problems they have to face after arrivg the cy are terrifyg. In New York there are only a few public shelters, ually n by Christian anizatns. In the se of openly LGBT youth their natural goal is often nversn and one learns quickly of stori of lbian girls havg to take make-up urs. Moreover, the stutns do not always wele LGBT homels youth even if more and more fah based stutns open their doors for them. Bill Torr, Director of Communy Rourc at the AFC needs not to thk long to remember the disturbg story of a fifteen-year-old boy om the Bronx who always felt he was born the wrong body. “Every morng this youngster would leave home as a boy, change to a girl durg the day, and return home as a boy”, Torr explas. The boy also practiced ’mong‘, the street term for g hormon bought on the black market. The hormon had eventually given him breasts and one day his mother disvered his secret when she entered the room while he was changg: She got angry and kicked him out of the hoe. Seekg for help the boy turned to the Covenant Hoe, a tholic stutn maly fund by public tax money providg 60 percent of New York’s beds for the homels youth. [perfectpullquote align="left" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]“Every morng this youngster would leave home as a boy, change to a girl durg the day, and return home as a boy”[/perfectpullquote] What followed is hard to image: Appearg as a girl, he had an take terview wh the shelter staff who assumed by his looks that he ed was a girl, ially allowg him to stay the female sectn. At the end of the terview the assumed girl had to show her ID rd, and as the staff member saw the picture of the girl beg a boy, the man started screamg at him how sick he was and how he uld do this to his body. They forced him to strip off his cloth and put him naked to a closet. Other staff members would randomly pass by and open the closet door to get a glimpse of sensatn out of the “chick wh a dick”. After a while the staff fally phed him, still naked, to the male sectn of the shelter. The male attendants started yellg at her to stay away om the beds bee they did not want “AIDS on the sheets.” Still beg stunned that such thgs uld happen at a tax-fund stutn, Torr ntu emotnally: “Eventually, she was btally beaten, molted and urated upon and realizg the suatn they were , the shelter staff didn’t hate to put her a b and force her to leave.” [perfectpullquote align="right" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]Even wh this private sectn, the provid beds rema empty, bee the LGBT youth are aaid to go there due to own past experienc or stori like the one of the young transgenr boy.[/perfectpullquote] This is merely another one of many sad stori to be heard. The transgenr boy was lucky enough to fd his way to the Ali Forney Center. The AFC was started June 2002 as a rponse to the lack of safe shelter for gay youth New York Cy. The center rri s name honor of an Ain-Amerin teenager who dited himself to improvg the liv of and drew attentn to mted crim on homels gay teenagers the cy until he himself was murred 1997. Forney’s tragic ath first lled the attentn to the horrid ndns homels LGBT youth face on the streets. Consequently, after the AFC staff learned om the maltreated boy about what he had gone through, and due to the fact that the Covenant Hoe is partly fund by public tax money, the AFC filed a su agast this stutn. As a small succs, the urt found that publicly fund shelters n by fah based stutns now mt provi a separate and private sectn for LGBT youth. However, even wh this private sectn, the provid beds rema empty, bee the LGBT youth are aaid to go there due to own past experienc or stori like the one of the young transgenr boy. It is necsary for the LGBT youth to have more separate private shelters, sce physil and psychologil abe is a mon realy many public facili. As a rult of the current suatn, the young people hate to take advantage of the existg shelters or flock to already straed servic, bee they feel safer on the streets. Meanwhile, the numbers of homels LGBT youth New York are creasg, as they e out of the closet at a younger and younger age. Addnally, acrdg to the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force report of 2006 an average of 3 to 5 percent of the U.S. populatn intifi as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr, while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Servic timat the number of homels and naway youth rangg om 575,000 to 1.6 ln per year, but wh a staggerg rate of 20 to 40 percent of them intifyg themselv as LGBT. Given the numbers is clear that LGBT youth experience homelsns at a disproportnate rate. Fundg Problems and Capaci This rate is not beg vered by public stutns at all. Statistics of the Natnal Runaway Swchboard ced the prs release to the report suggt that approximately 8.400 of the timated 15.000 to 20.000 homels youth livg New York Cy are LGBT. This high number is nonted wh the realy of only about 300 beds the current system, acrdg to Bill Torr. [perfectpullquote align="right" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]Unsurprisgly, budget issu are not unmon.[/perfectpullquote] Furthermore, private stutns face the suatn of havg to close down. Sylvia’s Place, L.’s first source for help servicg the homels youth and loted wh MCCNY’s church buildg, serv as emergency overnight shelter for LGBT youth unr the age of 24 and was forced to close down their send shelter Harlem bee of the lack of fundg. “We are pennt on donatns, sce we do not receive any fundg om the State or Feral ernment. We are basilly forced to take month by month”, explas Kate Barnhart, a staff member of the shelter. Unsurprisgly, budget issu are not unmon at Sylvia’s Place. At the time of the terview, Barnhart expected that she would not receive her paycheck that week bee of the lack of money. Moreover, is not unual that she and the other staff are not beg paid for up to three months. It is due to the srce fancial rourc of the supportg stutns that Bill Torr of the AFC even advic his ‘youth help seekers’ generally to not e out of the closet until they n provi a support system of their own to fall back on. [perfectpullquote align="left" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]Approximately 8,400 of the timated 15,000 to 20,000 homels youth livg New York Cy are LGBT.[/perfectpullquote] Fortunately, at least the Ali Forney Center started receivg public money, sce after the sndal of the Covenant Hoe was brought to public attentn public stutns are more likely to open up their purs for alternative stutns. It helps the AFC to ntue to be able to offer three ma programs, wh the Ali Forney Day Center beg the entry pot for the homels youth to receive a se manager, primary medil re, HIV ttg, mental health asssment and treatment, food, employment assistance, and referral to the Emergency Hog Program or the Transnal Hog Program. LGBT youths are allowed to stay the Emergency Hog Program for up to six months. This staff-supervised temporary hog provis a safe environment wh the actual re of a home and people to look out for them. Here they n be the kids they are, facg such tremendo difficulti the outsi world. In the Transnal Hog Program, the youth have more eedom to terme their day-to-day activi. The Center also assists them matag employment or ntug tn while helpg them fd more permanent hog. Like the AFC, another anizatn lled the Green Chimneys has also veloped two hog programs for LGBT youth. Their Agency Operated Boardg Home program is signed wh the primary goal to provi a safe and stctured environment parable to a home for young people between 12 to 16 years of age who do not f to other existg child welfare settgs. Their other program, the Gramercy Rince at Ungar Hoe, is a group rintial program for youth between the ag of 16 and 20. The basic goal for the Gramercy Rince is to enable olr adolcents foster re to functn the urban world penntly and succsfully. It seems fortg that AFC’s number of apartments is slowly creasg, and th more and more kids n be helped. However, the slow growth of the Center is far outpaced by the already existg and growg numbers of LGBT homels youth. Wh the timated 8.400 LGBT street kids md, as of now, they n only provi the small number of 58 beds, wh around 200 people on the wag list. Placement is given based on senry and emergency circumstanc. As their fundg suatn has improved, they recently have received a grant to e up wh a new facily Manhattan or the outskirts. Green Chimneys offers another 20 transnal beds their Triangle Tribe Apartments. [perfectpullquote align="left" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]Those who appear to be tough enough to fight for themselv on the street or a mastream shelter have to be turned down.[/perfectpullquote] At Sylvia’s Place, the suatn n only be alt wh night by night: Although the shelter n provi only 6 official beds, they ually end up providg overnight shelter for 20 – 25 youths wh people sleepg everywhere om the kchen floor to the top of the bets. When there are more youngsters wantg to stay for the night, choic have to be ma. The transsexual youth are accepted first, bee, as the Task Force report stat, about 20 percent of them would not fd their way and need assistance a regular shelter. The youngt are accepted sendly. Those who appear to be tough enough to fight for themselv on the street or a mastream shelter have to be turned down. Sylvia’s Place n only do so much tryg to protect the weakt of this mory wh the mory. The unlucky on have to turn elsewhere or stay the streets. Neverthels, wh the suatn beg as tough as is, the youth some s velop a sense of muny and mararie and n be assumed that on the streets of New York gay homels youth have closed ranks maly due to the efforts of people like Kate Barnhart of Sylvia’s Place and programs like those provid the Ali Forney Center. Yet, apart om a small noticeable gree of aternalism, has bee clear that wh the current existg servic far on their lims, wh long wag lists and a growg populatn of gay homels that add up to several thoands, the mand for addnal shelters that specialize the needs of LGBT homels youth is greater than ever. Dangero Trap: Sex Work For gay youth, mastream shelters are a source of abe. Stori like the one of the transgenred boy of Covenant Hoe make easy to unrstand why LGBT youth on the streets prefer to stay away om mastream shelters, and would rather opt to get by on their own. However, pg the threat of public shelters means enterg to another threat: prostutn. For some, sellg their bodi be a survival strategy as quickly as two weeks after their arrival to the cy. As Bill Torr explas and L. nfirms, bee gay homels youth are younger and younger, they are easy targets of elr panrs who trick them to prostutn. The olr men tablish tst wh the gay teen by providg food, shelter, physil protectn, and eventually troducg highly addictive dgs such as crystal methamphetame, which heightens sexual sir and appete. In Mnota, five separate state-wi studi by the Amherst H. Wilr Foundatn found out that 10 to 20 percent of homels youth are pennt on dgs. Once dgs are troduced, prostutn be more likely. [perfectpullquote align="right" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]A study of homels youth Canada ced the Task Force report found that gay homels youth practice risky ’survival sex‘ wh multiple sex-partners as a method to pe wh the neglect of basic needs three tim more than their heterosexual peers.[/perfectpullquote] Gay homels youth n be picked up for sex work om a variety of lotns. A popular lotn is an alley near the Chelsea piers. It is beg performed directly the rs, a public park or one of the peep-show vio stor nearby. Also, the Inter wh s special tert web portals like or provis a new, quick and easy method to fd clients or a shelter exchange for sex. A study of homels youth Canada ced the Task Force report found that gay homels youth practice risky ’survival sex‘ wh multiple sex-partners as a method to pe wh the neglect of basic needs three tim more than their heterosexual peers, half of them beg likely to tt HIV posive eventually, as well as beg fected wh other Sexually Transmted Diseas (STD). Coupled wh the likely chance of beg physilly or sexually abed beyond what was agreed upon (if one n speak of a fair al at all) by the ctomers themselv, the issue of sex work be prevalent. Oftentim the teenagers have a hard time negotiatg ndom e wh a sex partner, if beg aware of the risks at all. Other tim they choose not to practice safe sex. Sce some do not even expect to bee olr than 21, they ask themselv: Why should I re? Do matter? Will make a difference? “After all the tragedi the dividuals have experienced, they rign themselv to the belief that they will go to hell anyway”, Bill Torr explas. Acrdg to Kai Wright, Author of the Book 'Driftg towards Love' about three homels gay kids of lour NYC, for those of the gay youth fected wh HIV unr the age of 20, over 90 percent are Ain-Amerin or Lato. The Task Force report also refers to several studi that dite that up to one third of all homels adolcents engage sperate survival sex. In speakg to J., another 19-year-old homels teenager on one of the piers, he timated that 50 percent of homels youth are volved wh sex work and expected also half of them to get HIV. Gaetz’s sample of the Toronto homels youth prove J.’s first timatn to be rrect pecially for transgenr homels youth, who were about three tim more likely to engage survival sex than the rt of the sample.  J. is one of the lucky few who after a long journey were able to pe the perverted system. The startg pot of his street reer is equal to the story of many others: When his Puerto Rin fay found out about his sexualy they forced him to leave home. After several suici attempts and later sellg his body on the streets, J. was fortunate to be able to enter to the Green Chimney Program, which provid him wh a relatively healthy and stable life. He even has e up wh a new visn: “I want to bee a pilot. Or go to llege one day.” Role Mols and Gentrifitn Other growg issu for the LBGT homels populatn are the lack of gay role mols and the need for more safe muny spac. Often enough, the muni the youngsters pe om provi no exampl for an accepted and tolerated gay life to live, pecially when to black or Lato cultural backgrounds. Generally, the exampl of gay people the media are not manifold and is also te that there are hardly any referenc to gay people of lour pop culture. Kai Wright scrib that racial inty and cultural belongg are so important to a lot people of lour, that if there is no space wh the muny for LGBT youth, homophobia is felt even more acutely. One of the characters his book “newer saw gay people” his neighbourhood blocks of one of the eastern boroughs: “There are no boutiqu wh rabow flags. We have five gay publitns NYC and none of them circulate east New York.” Sce ral areas lack the important referenc of gay life exampl is no surprise that many of the LGBT teens e to the ci wh nothg more than a b ticket and a misty dream. They nnot know that even there, their space for ployment is rtricted. In New York Cy for s, Christopher Street and the Wt Village have been an area tradnally ed by the LGBT muny. Ironilly, has as of recently also bee more and more attractive for vtors, landlords and ndo owners and upled wh neighborhood groups who associate gay homelsns wh crimaly and fearg the valuatn of their posssns, LGBT homels teenagers are slowly beg phed out. [perfectpullquote align="left" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]Fightg to sta muny space is one challenge, tablishg new space is yet another.[/perfectpullquote] This slow gentrifitn n be seen exemplary at the Chelsea pears, to be specific at Pier 40. A cy-workg group suggted a massive mercial velopment of the pier or a new permanent home for the Cirque du Soleil. However, one of the key opponents makg a se out of the suggted velopments was the anizatn FIERCE (Fabulo Inpennt Eduted Radils for Communy Empowerment). Started 2000, FIERCE is perhaps the only LBGT youth anizatn the untry fightg agast gentrifitn and displacement and for the right of the people to rema the public spac that have a cultural meang to them. In June 2008, FIERCE started a mpaign to velop and stall a 24-hour LGBT Youth Center on Pier 40 that would offer HIV ttg, job trag and assistance, a mic stud and an art room as well as a classroom and a medil center. The servic listed were the rult of a survey of approximately 300 LGBT youth on what they would want to see their muny space. “Active muny buildg is a means of stag the power of the LGBT muny,” asserts Glo Ross, lead anizer of the mpaign. Fightg to sta muny space is one challenge, tablishg new space is yet another. As the Ali Forney Center tri to crease the number of s available apartments by one per month, but is required by law to abi by New York Cy hog standards, which state that any apartment hostg more than 6 rints mt be approved by the muny. “It has been creasgly difficult for to fd new apartments, as landlords are weary of hog homels youth. And no one wants potential sex workers their neighborhood. As a rult, we are tryg to spread our plac of actn. We look to new neighborhoods and often fd ourselv wh two typ of apartments: slum apartments wh landlords that do not re; or really elegant, high qualy apartments owned by liberal landlords that want to support a good e and th help ”, Torr stat. Yet, while the apartments offer shelter, they nnot replace public muny space to hang out. [perfectpullquote align="right" borrtop="false" ce="" lk="" lor="" class="" size=""]Even gay adult men hate to participate LGBT homels youth programs, sce they have often been stigmatized and stereotyped as pedophil and generally over-sexualized.[/perfectpullquote] Communy Space Iniativ like those proposed by FIERCE make clear that one way out of isolatn om society is raisg awarens and tegratg gay homels youth to the larger society, namely more muny actn and volvement. In this ntext, Kai Wright pots out the other si of the : Homophobia is everywhere. It is to be found the black and Lato populatn jt as well as evangelil circl and there are even policians, who tra on homophobia for reer reasons. LGBT anizatns engagg the sector of homels kids enunter a lot of prejudice and th face the challenge of tryg to build up a work of supporters to crease their public visibily. It is important to not only to provi servic to the youth, but also to te the public about issu faced by the gay muny. It is also ccial to achieve a change the society’s fundamental perceptn that sexualy is a choice stead of a natural ndn. Until then, all the servic for gay homels youth will not be much more that a band-aid solutn. Jt as much as other anizatns like the Empire State Pri Agenda have bee fluential voic for the LGBT muny at large, the muny-based Ali Forney Center has managed to tablish self as an “attack dog” polil circl when to alg wh LGBT homels youth issu NCY. The center closely works wh the immediate neighborhood and has managed to raise a work of more than 220 volunteers, about half of them fay works. Wh this associatn of engaged and supportive dividuals, the center is able to effectively and directly advote on behalf of gay homels youth issu whenever necsary. Although policians slowly bee more aware of the voic, there is still a long way to go fightg for acceptance, pecially when to alg wh fah-based reasong. In addn to advocy, raisg the issue is also a necsary step orr for the gay muny to bee more aware and as a rult more volved. However, even gay adult men hate to participate LGBT homels youth programs, sce they have often been stigmatized and stereotyped as pedophil and generally over-sexualized. Yet, as Bill Torr om the AFC explas: “As long as the ernment ntu to ignore the issue, the LGBT muny mt e together as both a polil and social force and take on rponsibily.” The FIERCE iative n only be one startg pot for more empowerment wh the gay homels youth muny. Once succsful mols have been created, they n be ed as a template for other ci and neighborhoods throughout the untry to appropriately aid homels LGBT teens. Torr hop that polics will fally bee aware of the necsary chang to be ma the system. Clear remendatns are strsed exemplary by the New York Cy Associatn of Homels and Street-Involved Youth Organizatns: More money to improve the shelter and hog ndns of the GLBT youth, a mimum of 100 beds available to them nightly along wh available health re servic, a GLBT sensivy trag for publicly fund stutn’s staff or simply the monorg of the safety of GLBT youth shelters. Torr visn is yet a more spired one: He wish that “society will see LGBT homels youth no longer as a non-existg or exceptnal group but will support wh the necsary means, self-evintly.” * gay homeless youth nyc *

In speakg wh L., he emphasized the fact that there is a general lack of awarens New York Cy about the growg problem of gay homels youth.

Provis a better amework to unrstandg the life of a gay homels teen the Uned Stat today. The AFC was started June 2002 as a rponse to the lack of safe shelter for gay youth New York Cy. The center rri s name honor of an Ain-Amerin teenager who dited himself to improvg the liv of and drew attentn to mted crim on homels gay teenagers the cy until he himself was murred 1997.

Dpe the gas ma for gay rights recent years, homels LGBT youth have benefed ltle. Instead, their numbers on the streets have swelled. * gay homeless youth nyc *

Addnally, acrdg to the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force report of 2006 an average of 3 to 5 percent of the U.

Populatn intifi as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr, while the U. Neverthels, wh the suatn beg as tough as is, the youth some s velop a sense of muny and mararie and n be assumed that on the streets of New York gay homels youth have closed ranks maly due to the efforts of people like Kate Barnhart of Sylvia’s Place and programs like those provid the Ali Forney Center. Yet, apart om a small noticeable gree of aternalism, has bee clear that wh the current existg servic far on their lims, wh long wag lists and a growg populatn of gay homels that add up to several thoands, the mand for addnal shelters that specialize the needs of LGBT homels youth is greater than ever.

For gay youth, mastream shelters are a source of abe. Nfirms, bee gay homels youth are younger and younger, they are easy targets of elr panrs who trick them to prostutn.

New Alternativ is a rource center dited to the re and well-beg of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and HIV+ homels youth New York Cy. * gay homeless youth nyc *

The olr men tablish tst wh the gay teen by providg food, shelter, physil protectn, and eventually troducg highly addictive dgs such as crystal methamphetame, which heightens sexual sir and appete. A study of homels youth Canada ced the Task Force report found that gay homels youth practice risky ’survival sex‘ wh multiple sex-partners as a method to pe wh the neglect of basic needs three tim more than their heterosexual peers.

Gay homels youth n be picked up for sex work om a variety of lotns. A study of homels youth Canada ced the Task Force report found that gay homels youth practice risky ’survival sex‘ wh multiple sex-partners as a method to pe wh the neglect of basic needs three tim more than their heterosexual peers, half of them beg likely to tt HIV posive eventually, as well as beg fected wh other Sexually Transmted Diseas (STD).

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY HOMELESS YOUTH NYC

Live</tle><rect width="39" height="22" rx="3" fill="#CB1111"></rect><path d="M5.756 5.66H8.186V15.002H12.506V17H5.756V5.66ZM13.5783 5.66H16.0083V17H13.5783V5.66ZM22.5198 17H20.0718L16.7958 5.66H19.2798L21.3498 13.31H21.4218L23.5098 5.66H25.7958L22.5198 17ZM33.3901 15.002V17H26.5861V5.66H33.3541V7.658H28.9621V10.25H32.3101V12.212H28.9621V15.002H33.3901Z" fill="whe"></path></svg></span>on<span class="styl_img__bxg3Y styl_news-now-img__961yW"><svg width="144" height="16" viewBox="0 0 144 16" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>NBC News Now</tle><g clip-path="url(#clip0_3686_260016)"><path d="M143.711 12.9351H106.432V15.7204H143.711V12.9351Z" fill="currentColor"></path><path d="M138.308 11.0828H141.078L143.924 0.253418H141.218L139.725 6.7182H139.678L138.044 0.253418H135.417L133.77 6.7182H133.708L132.215 0.253418H129.276L132.114 11.0828H135.005L136.655 4.66263H136.747L138.308 11.0828Z" fill="currentColor"></path><path d="M120.534 5.67944C120.534 3.79098 121.713 2.45958 123.394 2.45958C125.074 2.45958 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data-activy-map="social-share-lks-article-top" data-ttid="social-share-menu"><li data-ttid="social-share-facebook" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_facebook__bOW_X"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-facebook"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-twter" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_twter__ww7sF"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-ptert" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_ptert__CaMm1"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-ptert"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-email" class="styl_em__b5A78"><a href="mailto:?subject=Left Behd: LGBT Youth Stggle to Survive on Streets& target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-email"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-py" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_py__RACZ3"><button type="button" class="styl_button__b3sx_"><span class="in in-lk"></span></button><div class="styl_pyTooltip__Ut_t1"><span class="in in-alt-check"></span></div></li><li data-ttid="social-share-sms" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_sms__Vohh6"><a href="sms:?&body=Left Behd: LGBT Youth Stggle to Survive on Streets via nbews - target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-sms"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-prt" class="styl_prt__cw6Gn"><button type="button" class="styl_button__b3sx_"><span class="in in-share-prt styl_in__P3XZT"></span><span class="styl_text___8iNX">Prt</span></button></li><li data-ttid="social-share-save" class="styl_save__ILVuj"></li></ul></div><div class="article-body__date-source"><time class="relative z-1" dateTime="2014-08-03T21:42:00.000Z" ntent="2014-08-03T21:42:00.000Z">Aug. 3, 2014, 9:01 AM UTC<span> / </span>Updated<!-- --> <!-- -->Aug. 3, 2014, 9:42 PM UTC</time></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">NEW YORK – A yellow b creeps along a solate Manhattan street, followg Alu Marks and a iend on a ld sprg night.</p><p class="">Marks, a teen who intifi as a transgenr female, knew what the driver wanted—sex—but she wasn’t dog that work anymore. The bbie trailed her for several mut before fally drivg off.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">“This life, gets prsg,” said Marks, a soft-spoken 19-year-old who go by the name Diamond. In the last year, she had experienced perds of homelsns, sleepg at a park, iends’ plac and shelters after fightg wh her mother over a number of issu, cludg her romantic tert men and her genr inty. (Diamond’s mother cled ment).</p><p class="">Dpe the gas ma for gay rights recent years, homels LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr) youth have benefed ltle. Instead, their numbers on the streets have swelled, reprentg up to an timated 40 percent of the natn’s young adult homels populatn, data shows. In <a href=" target="_blank">many</a> s, LGBT youth choose or are forced to leave home bee their fai don’t accept them. Once homels, they are exposed to the perils of street life: vlence, survival sex, and, some s, HIV.</p><sectn class="le-vio le-vio---body"><div class="le-vio__background"><div class="le-vio__player"><div class="vioPlayer styl_vioPlayer__bL8AJ styl_adNotPlayg__Q51_C styl_alignDktopBottom__4cHaO styl_alignMobileBottom__bhgkQ"><div class="vioSlate"><a href=" class="allowClicksOnPreview"><picture class=""><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet="><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet="><img loadg="lazy" src="></picture></a><div class="playButtonOuter absolute absolute-fill w100 dn-prt"><div class="absolute absolute-fill w100 df ems-center ems-center-m jtify-center jtify-center-m"><div class="play le-vio__play-button"><svg class="play--in" xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 15 15" prerveAspectRat="xMidYMid" style="max-width:30px"><path d="M0 0v15l15-7.41z" fill-le="evenodd"></path></svg></div></div></div></div><div id="43379269855"></div></div></div></div><div class="le-vio__"><h2 class="le-vio__tle"><a href=">A day the life of homels transgenr youth</a></h2><span class="le-vio__tail"><span>Aug. 3, 2014</span><span>01:16</span></span><div class="styl_share__n3Syu le-vio__share dn-prt"><div class="styl_shareExpanr__hVk8d le-vio__share-expanr styl_hoverEffect___Dj4s"><span class="styl_shareDot__9pfRZ le-vio__share-dot"></span><svg class="styl_shareClose__6BZxR le-vio__share-close" viewBox="0 0 15 15"><le class="styl_shareLe__EJUjO" x1="0" x2="15" y1="0" y2="15"></le><le class="styl_shareLe__EJUjO" x1="0" x2="15" y1="15" y2="0"></le></svg></div><div class="styl_shareList___M8wC le-vio__share-list"><a href=" class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-facebook styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a><a href=" class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-twter styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a><a href="mailto:?subject=A day the life of homels transgenr youth& class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-email styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a></div></div></div></sectn><p class="">Gay youth homelsns has been an issue sce at least the 1969 Stonewall rts New York, often regard as triggerg the morn gay rights movement, which many homels youth participated.</p><p class="">Reliable rearch this area has been limed, but a <a href=">survey</a> of shelters natnwi om 2011 to 2012 found that up to 40 percent of homels young adults were LGBT, acrdg to the study nducted by three human rights groups. Overall, the Natnal Alliance to End Homelsns roughly <a href=" target="_blank">timat</a> that 550,000 people up to 24 years old are homels over the urse of a year.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">Gay youth fleeg their hom flock to a few ci like New York, where more rourc are available. But many end up sleepg outsi on bench, at parks or bh, like at New York’s Christopher Street pier – long known as a refuge for homels young adults.</p><p class="">“It’s hard for me to image a worse and more harmful exprsn of homophobia our time than the fact that there are hundreds of thoands of kids who are beg rejected by their fai and put out onto the streets,” said Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, a shelter for LGBT youth New York.</p><p class="">Only 4,000 beds are available across the untry for homels young adults; of those, 350, mostly New York, are LGBT specific. Shelters often have to turn kids away, schoolg them on sleepg on the subways, Siciliano said. In Detro, shelter lears said they tell youth where they n squat wh others abandoned hom.</p><p class="">The homelsns has worsened, activists said, even though acceptance of the signature gay rights issue of the last —same-sex marriage—has risen. That shift, pl the emergence of gay celebri and popular LGBT-themed televisns shows, has enuraged youth to e out earlier. Dr. Cal Ryan, director of the Fay Acceptance Project at San Francis State Universy, said her group has seen more youth first disclosg their sexual orientatn between the ag of seven and 13.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">“Young people are feelg more and more fortable g out,” said Mark Erw, director of muny velopment at Detro’s Ruth Ellis Center, which works wh LGBT young adults. But his center now has more young people seekg help. “Although their peers maybe okay wh , we know that their fai may not yet be.”</p><sectn class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote__quote"><p>“I was playg wh him, but I was sayg thgs that were hurtg him, and I wasn't aware of ."</p><small class="blockquote__source"><span></span></small></blockquote></sectn><p class="">Such was the se for Torreano David Stanley, a 20-year-old om the Bronx who intifi as genr fluid—female most days. She said some of her relativ were not supportive as she tried out drs and wigs wh female hairstyl. She lived at her sister’s hoe after her mother died years ago.</p><p class="">Her extend fay told her “that I need to change my ways or leave,” she said. “I knew that they were talkg about me beg gay."</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Image: Torreano Stanley" height="1667" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Torreano David Stanley is a 20-year-old om the Bronx who intifi as genr fluid—female most days.</span><span class="ptn__source">Michael Rubenste / for NBC News</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Stanley’s sister, Deonna Cleckley, said she wasn’t aware of that but did adm to stgglg wh Stanley’s genr inty and sexual orientatn and makg anti-gay remarks.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">“I was playg wh him, but I was sayg thgs that were hurtg him, and I wasn't aware of ,” said Cleckley, who still refers to Stanley as male. (Stanley noted she had not yet asked her fay to e female pronouns when referrg to her.)</p><p class="">Stanley said she didn’t feel fortable at her sister’s hoe and left January. “My heart was broken,” she said.</p><p class="">Her sister’s was, too. Cleckley uldn’t fd Stanley and feared Stanley uld bee a victim of vlence. “It hurt me a lot,” she said.</p><p class="">Stanley would jo the multu of LGBT homels youth New York seekg a shelter bed. She got one after sleepg on the subway for a week, but others n wa weeks or months. In June, Siciliano’s center lnched a mpaign wh the Natnal Coaln for the Homels, llg for the feral ernment to add 22,000 youth shelter beds natnwi, rrpondg to the number of all youth who were on the streets one night last year when the <a href=">U.S. Department of Hog and Urban Development</a> (HUD) nducted s annual homels asssment.</p><sectn class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote__quote"><p>"The ncern is that plac where there are no beds, and there are no street outreach programs or servic, the are the hidn homels."</p><small class="blockquote__source"><span></span></small></blockquote></sectn><p class="">Determg how many LGBT youth are on the streets is difficult: HUD don’t ask the homels about sexual orientatn (but for the first time this year quired about beg transgenr). While the <a href=">U.S. Department of Health and Human Servic</a> (HHS) has a reportg system for shelters that clus qutns on LGBT stat, rearchers said <a href=">not all agenci</a> may be aware of the sexual orientatn or genr inty of the youth they’re servg. Young people may also not offer that rmatn.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">“The ncern is that plac where there are no beds, and there are no street outreach programs or servic, the are the hidn homels,” said Jerry Jon, executive director of the Natnal Coaln for the Homels.</p><p class="">For displaced youth, daily challeng clu the search for food and a bed, and fdg tsted iends on often hostile streets. Many spend their days at youth centers, where they n e puters, get health checks, a meal and attend life skills class. But the eveng, they’re back outsi.</p><p class="">Some LGBT teens and adults terviewed by NBC said they were raped on the streets. Others were victims of theft, like Luca Rodriguez, a 21-year-old transgenr female who sought refuge for several months on the subway last wter. Once when she nodd off on the tra, someone took her backpack ntag her laptop and birth certifite, she said.</p><p class="">“I jt wanted to break somethg at that pot. I uld not take anymore,” she said.</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">Rodriguez, who l up paid ternships as she builds her rume hop of gettg a permanent job, got a shelter bed the late sprg. But even beg there isn’t whout trouble, she said, sce sperate youth sometim steal om one another.</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><p class="">She may soon be back on the subway aga sce her shelter spot is only good through early Augt. “I have grown acctomed to beg on the streets, and that’s bad,” she said.</p><p class="">Rodriguez said she left home at age 19 after gettg angry wh her mom. She figured out she was transgenr two years earlier but didn’t explore her genr inty until she was on her own. That “was when I started to e to terms wh myself and to exprs who I felt I was on the si,” she said.</p><p class="">She feels her mom accepts her beg transgenr, but the pair has other ongog disagreements, so she won’t move back home (her mother uldn’t be reached for ment).</p><sectn class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote__quote"><p>“Hog is HIV preventn. ... If you have certa basic needs that aren’t met, like food and shelter, then HIV is not the most prsg ncern on people’s mds. They need a warm bed."</p><small class="blockquote__source"><span></span></small></blockquote></sectn><p class="">Fay acceptance is cril to the well-beg of LGBT young adults, said Ryan, of the Fay Acceptance Project. Acrdg to a 2009 study by the project, youth who are highly rejected by their fai are more than eight tim likely to have attempted suici and nearly six tim as likely to report high levels of prsn. They are also more than three tim as likely to e illegal dgs and to be at high risk for HIV and sexually transmted diseas.</p><sectn class="le-vio le-vio---body"><div class="le-vio__background"><div class="le-vio__player"><div class="vioPlayer styl_vioPlayer__bL8AJ styl_adNotPlayg__Q51_C styl_alignDktopBottom__4cHaO styl_alignMobileBottom__bhgkQ"><div class="vioSlate"><a href=" class="allowClicksOnPreview"><picture class=""><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet="><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet="><img loadg="lazy" src="></picture></a><div class="playButtonOuter absolute absolute-fill w100 dn-prt"><div class="absolute absolute-fill w100 df ems-center ems-center-m jtify-center jtify-center-m"><div class="play le-vio__play-button"><svg class="play--in" xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 15 15" prerveAspectRat="xMidYMid" style="max-width:30px"><path d="M0 0v15l15-7.41z" fill-le="evenodd"></path></svg></div></div></div></div><div id="42940485712"></div></div></div></div><div class="le-vio__"><h2 class="le-vio__tle"><a href=">Fay safety is missg for some transgenr youth</a></h2><span class="le-vio__tail"><span>Aug. 3, 2014</span><span>01:03</span></span><div class="styl_share__n3Syu le-vio__share dn-prt"><div class="styl_shareExpanr__hVk8d le-vio__share-expanr styl_hoverEffect___Dj4s"><span class="styl_shareDot__9pfRZ le-vio__share-dot"></span><svg class="styl_shareClose__6BZxR le-vio__share-close" viewBox="0 0 15 15"><le class="styl_shareLe__EJUjO" x1="0" x2="15" y1="0" y2="15"></le><le class="styl_shareLe__EJUjO" x1="0" x2="15" y1="15" y2="0"></le></svg></div><div class="styl_shareList___M8wC le-vio__share-list"><a href=" class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-facebook styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a><a href=" class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-twter styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a><a href="mailto:?subject=Fay safety is missg for some transgenr youth& class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-email styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a></div></div></div></sectn><p class="">HIV risk is a much-discsed fear among homels LGBT youth. New fectns among gay male 13-to-24 year olds creased 22 percent om 2008 to 2010, <a href=" target="_blank">acrdg to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn</a>’s most recent data. Young, black gay men are severely affected, the CDC said, acuntg for more new fectns than any other subgroup.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">The lk between HIV and homelsns among LGBT young adults is clear, activists and rearchers said.</p><p class="">“Hog is HIV preventn,” said Jeremy Ortman, assistant director of mental health at Gay Men’s Health Crisis. “If you have certa basic needs that aren’t met, like food and shelter, then HIV is not the most prsg ncern on people’s mds. They need a warm bed.”</p><p class="">Three weeks after bshg off the b driver, Diamond said she received vastatg news: Tts revealed she was HIV posive. She believ she ntracted the vis om a man whom she felt uld be a romantic partner. “I thought we were gog to be more,” she said. “I gus I was vulnerable.”</p><p class="">After beg on the streets, Diamond’s HIV diagnosis meant she qualified for a cy hog stipend. She is stayg a motel-like room at a transnal hog facily the Bronx while she looks for a permanent place.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">Diamond wants to have a relatnship wh her mom but said her mom don’t accept her and won’t let her e home. “Sometim I have hard days,” she said. “I thk about stuff a lot. I try not to.”</p><p class="">Ryan’s group, the Fay Acceptance Project, has found that many fai who had kicked their children out “later regretted but was too late,” she said. “Some of them had no ntact wh their children.”</p><p class="">The group started an iative March to teach fai, relig lears and social service workers ways to help stem gay youth homelsns and suici Utah.</p><p class="">“It’s so important to help fai unrstand that they n support that LGBT adolcent even if they thk that beg gay or transgenr is wrong,” she said.</p><sectn class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote__quote"><p>“You love this boy, you do thgs that are right for him bee the only person you would be hurtg will be yourself and him.”</p><small class="blockquote__source"><span></span></small></blockquote></sectn><p class="">In Detro, the Ruth Ellis Center said will soon sign a state ntract to work wh child servic a bid to prevent gay youth om leavg home. Believed to be the first program of s kd natnwi, will volve dividual and fay unselg over 13 months, and will beg 2015.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">“We n ntue to talk about the lack of shelter beds, but until we actually addrs the root e of youth homelsns, pecially LGBT youth, this is gog to be an endls cycle,” Erw said. “We need to meet young people and fai where they’re at.”</p><p class="">Cleckley said such programs uld have helped her better unrstand what Stanley was gog through. The pair has slowly rennected over the last few months through phone lls and viss, and Cleckley said she is termed not to be tranged om Stanley aga.</p><p class="">In a recent nversatn between the siblgs, Cleckley said she had a msage for other fai stgglg to accept LGBT youth: “Don't re about what nobody else is sayg on the street,” she said. “You love this boy, you do thgs that are right for him bee the only person you would be hurtg will be yourself and him.”</p><p class="endmark">Moved by her sister’s msage of acceptance, Stanley said, “It means a lot to me.”</p></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">New Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo.

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