Guest Post: The Real Meaning of PRIDE

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The Real Meaning of PRIDE by Frank McAlpin

Homeless Youth are OUR Youth
 
As we, in Los Angeles prepare for one of the largest and most spectacular Gay Pride Parades in the nation there is much to be proud of. We are experiencing unprecedented progress in the LGBT rights movement. From the legalization of same-sex marriage across the country, to the acceptance of openly gay professional athletes, to greater visibility and inclusion of LGBT folks in media and politics. Yes, there is much to celebrate! 
 
Yet with all this GAY excitement and celebration we can’t overlook the hundreds of young people sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles every night. It is estimated that in the US a half a million youth are homeless, about 40 percent of these youth identify as LGBTQ. And it is believed that Los Angeles is home to the most young people in country experiencing homelessness. 
 
There are numerous reasons as to why youth become homeless such as: abuse, neglect, poverty and homophobia. Often times LGBTQ youth are not physically or emotionally safe in their homes and communities, due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. They leave home in search of a more affirming and supportive space to be who they are. 
 
For whatever reason youth become homeless, their daily reality is almost impossible to imagine. It is a reality of constant hunger and exhaustion. Of violence and exploitation. Of rejection and stigma. For many homeless youth each day is just about survival. The realities that homeless youth experience 
impact every facet of their life, including employment prospects, education and physical and mental health. 
 
When trying to imagine these realities I can’t help but think, what kind of community allows young people, some already marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression to be homeless? To have no safe and supportive space to live and grow into the beautiful individuals they are? 
 
Our collective acceptance of youth homelessness in OUR community is not something we can be proud of. It is an injustice so horrific it diminishes our entire community. And its existence overshadows the very equality the LGBT rights movement is achieving today. 
 
These homeless youth, many of whom identify as LGBTQ, are our youth. We, as an LGBT community and more broadly as a nation, must care for these youth. We must recognize them. Talk with them. Fight for them. For these young people represent all that is beautiful and possible in our community. They are our 
future. 
 
Youth experiencing homelessness, LGBT or not, want the same things we all want. To be safe, respected, supported and loved. And isn’t that what Pride is really all about? 
 
So as we gather in West Hollywood this June to throw glitter and celebrate our Pride, let us also commit to ending youth homelessness. Let us ensure that all homeless youth feel safe, respected, supported and loved. And that we all come to know the true meaning of PRIDE. 
 
Frank McAlpin, social worker and homeless youth advocate 
@FrankMcTalk

National Campaign for Youth Shelter

NCH is proud to work with the Ali Forney Center to launch the National Campaign for Youth Shelter, a collaboration that will build a grassroots campaign to demand a national response to youth homelessness.

 The National Campaign for Youth Shelter calls include the following:

  1. A federal commitment to provide all youths age 24 and under with immediate access to safe shelter, affirming the principle that no young person in the United States should be left homeless in the streets.
  2. An immediate commitment to add 22,000 beds with appropriate services. (This number corresponds to the number of youths identified in the most recent Point In Time Count of homeless persons conducted by the federal government).
  3. A more accurate and comprehensive effort to count the number of homeless youth in the nation in order to determine the number of beds that are needed over the next decade.

The campaign is going to hold rallies in New York City and Washington, DC, to launch the campaign as a priority within the LGBT movement. The New York City rally will be held on June 2. Details to come.

LGBT youth are disproportionately over-represented in the homeless youth population, with as many as 40% of the nation’s homeless youth being LGBT, while only 5% of the overall youth population is LGBT.

Currently, there are only approximately 4,000 youth shelter beds in the United States, yet as many as 500,000 unaccompanied youths experience homelessness each year.

“It’s indefensible that our nation would abide hundreds of thousands of young people to be homeless and on their own,” says Jerry Jones, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “The National Campaign for Youth Shelter will highlight the urgency of basic emergency shelter as we work toward permanent solutions to this crisis.”

The National Campaign for Youth Shelter has gained the support and endorsement of over 30 organizations, including: GLAAD, the Alliance for a Just Society, Campaign for America’s Future, Campus Pride, Center for Community Change, Center for Popular Democracy, CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Coalition on Human Needs, Covenant House, Empire State Pride Agenda, Family Acceptance Project, Family Equality Council, Garden State Equality, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, GLSEN, the Hetrick Martin Institute, Housing Assistance Council, It Gets Better Project, Matthew Shepard Foundation, National AIDS Housing Coalition, National Black Justice Coalition, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Health Care for the Homeless Council, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, National Low Income Housing Coalition, NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, Partnership for Working Families, Rebuild the Dream, the Ruth Ellis Center, Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, Treatment Action Group, USAction, and You Can Play Project.

“It is unprecedented to have so many LGBT organizations join together with prominent national housing and anti-poverty organizations to fight for the humane treatment of impoverished youths.” says Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center. “With all this support, the National Campaign for Youth Shelter will build a movement to finally prevent youths from being left to suffer homelessness without access to shelter. The wealthiest nation on earth must not allow its youths to be left out in the streets.”

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