9/24/2014 The Daily
With the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2011, and 19 states now allowing same-sex marriage, there is much worth celebrating in the struggle for LGBT rights. The last three states to begin issuing same-sex marriage certificates (New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania) did so as a result of court decisions. In fact, every time same-sex marriage has gone to the courts, it has eventually been upheld. A further 12 states have made rulings in favor with decisions stayed, pending appeals, but if the track record holds, we can expect well over half the country to have legalized same-sex marriages in the near future.
It’s time to turn the impressive network of LGBT activism toward another, even more urgent cause. On Aug. 27, Dan Savage of “The Stranger” posted a now-infamous video of Daniel Ashley Pierce being rejected by his religious family for being gay. It’s a high-profile instance of homelessness among LGBT youth, an all-too extensive problem.
LGBT youth constitute five percent of minors overall, but 40 percent of homeless minors, a discrepancy commonly attributed to ostracism by religious families. As homeless shelters across the board are underequipped, the services catering to homeless youth are even more limited. An estimated 1.7 million minors are homeless in America, yet only 4,000 shelter beds are set aside for youth at all. Even those meager resources are not an option to many LGBT youth, who are often singled out for abuse by other homeless youth because of their sexual orientation. The youth shelter, when it exists, can be just as hostile as the home. Current government-run systems, such as child services, shelters, and foster programs, take almost no account of sexual or gender identity, and LGBT youth sometimes find themselves placed in intolerant foster families.
Back in 2010, Savage spearheaded the “It Gets Better” project, which addressed the tide of rising suicide among LGBT youth by having LGBT adults show how life can improve. But homelessness is a different sort of problem. Sticking it out can be hard enough with a roof overhead and food in the fridge. On the street, young people often turn to crime to survive, have their health deteriorates, and no longer have a permanent address. These factors and more weigh a person down, making it difficult to get a job and a place of one’s own.
It’s time for increased activism from LGBT people and allies in this area. For homeless youth, it doesn’t simply “get better.” It has to be actively made better. This is an opportunity for the community to really pull together and provide for those in the greatest danger.
We shouldn’t stop campaigning for increased acceptance and legal protections, but we also need to expand in certain other directions. Those with the greatest means should found nonprofits and open shelters specifically catering to LGBT youth. As adoption rights are won and expanded, LGBT and allied households can adopt or at least foster homeless youth.
The issue of LGBT youth homelessness reveals that there is still much work to be done in LGBT activism. Amid television images of affluent gay couples, it can be easy to think that homophobia is nearly done; it can be disconcerting to think of how many pockets of hatred remain, and how intense they are. Youth homelessness also exposes the many cracks in the old systems of welfare for minors, but we should see this as an opportunity. With these systems’ failures, the LGBT support network can present itself as a solution to the lack of mercy in more socially Darwinian corners of American life.
http://dailyuw.com/archive/2014/09/24/opinion/miles-go-we-sleep-bringing-lgbt-homelessness-spotlight