Equality & Justice Day: A Different Perspective
On Monday, May 9th, eleven hundred LGBTQ rights activists from all over New York State, including a contingent from CBST/Koleinu, converged on Albany for Equality & Justice Day. The day included speeches, a rally, and meetings with legislators, all in support of three pieces of legislation: Marriage Equality, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), and The LGBT Health & Human Services Network (The Network).
Marriage Equality and GENDA were the main focuses of the day. Nonetheless, I was surprised that one issue was not mentioned even once: the epidemic of homelessness among our LGBTQ youth. I was particularly surprised this was not being talked about in light of Governor Cuomo’s current budget, that cut funding for services that serve homeless youth by 50%.
One of the major successes of our movement has been greater acceptance of LGBTQ people; our youth, in particular, feel emboldened as never before and are coming out at younger and younger ages. Tragically, however, one in four of these kids subsequently is kicked out by their families. Once homeless, most discover that support services for them are almost nonexistent; there are shelter beds for fewer than one in twenty. The rest are left to fend for themselves on the streets, where they live at high risk of violent crime, substance abuse, STDs (including HIV), depression, suicide, and murder. Many resort to survival sex to keep themselves alive. And, just by being homeless and on the streets, they are breaking truancy laws, loitering laws, panhandling laws, and curfews, not to mention that eating often requires stealing food, getting around the city often requires fare evasion - the list goes on. As a result, many of these youth end up trapped in the juvenile justice system.
To be fair, homeless LGBTQ issues were being addressed as part of The LGBT Health & Human Services Network. But I have read that every hour another homeless kid dies on our streets; I feel this is an extremely urgent and important issue, one that is truly a matter of life and death. LGBTQ Youth Homelessness should be at the top of any LGBTQ rights agenda, not buried away somewhere, out of sight and out of mind.
I cannot hold our leaders solely responsible for the almost total silence on this issue. As Carl Siciliano, founder and Executive Director of The Ali Forney Center said at a recent rally at CBST, our leaders take their cues from us, the adult members of the LGBTQ community. If we demand nothing for our children, our leadership will be happy to oblige. We need to raise awareness about this issue and hold our leaders accountable. Koleinu is dedicated to achieving exactly this; we will keep raising Our Voice until Albany shakes like the walls of Jericho and our youth receive the support they so desperately need and deserve. Please join us.
The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.
