| “Kick’d Out: Queer Youth on the Streets” |
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| Tuesday, 01 June 2010 11:35 |
The Young Leaders Council at the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center presented “Kick’d Out: Queer Youth on the Streets,” the latest in their “Speaking Out” series of panels, on Wednesday, May 26. The evening was a discussion of the challenges—and possible solutions—facing LGBT homeless youth in New York City and the nation at large.The Center’s Youth Enrichment Services (YES) Program serves 1,000 young people, ages 13-21, every year. Among that group, a significant number are either homeless or in the foster care system. The Center has recently started the LGBT Foster Care Project which is training foster care agency staff and foster parents in cultural competency around LGBT issues to make them more welcoming and affirming to LGBT youth and prospective LGBT foster parents. Moderated by Arcus Foundation Senior Director of Grantmaking and Evaluation Cindy Rizzo, the panel featured New York City Department of Youth and Community Development Assistant Commissioner Susan Haskell, Kicked Out Anthology author Sassafras Lowery as well as two panelists with personal knowledge of the challenges facing LGBT homeless youth: Tenaja Jordan and Hoshalah Misodi. “I was the model child, but when I started thinking about my parents and how they’d deal with [my being a lesbian], that’s when I started running away,” Jordan said of her youth. “The backlash was terrible. I felt like a criminal in my own home.” Now, Jordan is a caseworker serving children in foster care and a member of the board of directors of the Hetrick-Martin Institute—the very organization that connected her to vital programs when she had nowhere else to turn as a child ostracized by her family. Misodi’s journey was different, though no less fraught with challenges. “Being homeless was hard,” he recalled. “I felt like I couldn’t speak to anyone about it. I was never ashamed, but I like to be able to take care of myself so I didn’t share it with people.” Misodi credited the Ali Forney Center with providing him with the support he needed to establish himself. At present he is a hairstylist, artist and star of “The Hair Architect” on the Essence.com website. “Forty percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT,” said Lowry—who herself has an intimate understanding of the issue after being exiled by her family after she came out at the age of 16. “But sometimes stories are more powerful than numbers,” she continued. “It’s important to keep having these conversations.” Rizzo, who last October was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to the City’s Commission on LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth along with the Center’s new Executive Director Glennda Testone and other community leaders, revealed that the commission would be presenting a list of recommendations to the city shortly with a focus on enhanced efforts in the areas of prevention, social service improvements and education. |
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