Two national
advocacy groups Tuesday accused the federal government of
neglecting what they described as an epidemic of
homelessness affecting tens of thousands of gay and
lesbian youths, many of whom leave home because of
conflicts with their parents.
The National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force and the National Coalition for
the Homeless said gay, lesbian, and transgender youths make
up at least 20%--possibly as much as
40%--of the total number of homeless and runaway
youth, a fluid population that experts have estimated at
575,000 to 1.6 million each year. ''The national
response to this epidemic has been nothing short of
disgraceful,'' Matt Foreman, NGLTF executive director,
told reporters during a teleconference.
He urged Congress
to increase appropriations for the federal Runaway,
Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act, which must be
reauthorized next year, and said some federal funds
should--for the first time--be targeted
specifically toward boosting programs to aid gay and lesbian
youths.
Citing incidents
of antigay harassment at homeless shelters, NGLTF and
the homeless coalition recommended that some shelter space
be set aside solely for gay youths. They also said any
organization seeking public funding to serve homeless
youth should be required to prove its staff would
treat gay and lesbian young people competently and fairly.
In a report
completed in December, ''An Epidemic of Homelessness,'' the
two groups cited estimates that roughly one fourth of gay
and lesbian teens are kicked out of their homes after
their parents learn of their sexual orientation. The
report said many gay youths experienced physical
violence during the process of coming out.
Once homeless,
the report says, these young people are more vulnerable
than their peers to mental health problems, substance abuse,
and sexually transmitted diseases. The report's lead
author, NGLTF policy analyst Nicholas Ray, said about
one third of homeless gay youths engage in ''survival
sex''--exchanging sex for money, food, clothes, or
drugs.
Assessing
existing programs for homeless youths, the report said
public funding was inadequate and asserted that more
than 6,000 youths in 2004 were turned away from
programs that lacked resources to help them. The
report also expressed concern that President Bush's push for
federal funding of faith-based organizations might
lead to situations where a church-run shelter program
would discriminate against a gay youth seeking
services.
Dilo Cintron, 25,
a gay man who spent five years homeless in New York
City, said staff at one shelter he used were so
unsympathetic that they once walked by without
intervening while he was being assaulted in a laundry
room. According to Ray, gay youths at a homeless shelter in
Michigan were required to wear orange jumpsuits to
distinguish them from other youths.
The report also
cited several programs as providing effective services to
gay youths, including Green Chimneys in New York City;
Waltham House in Waltham, Mass.; the Ruth Ellis Center
in Detroit; Ozone House in Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Urban
Peak in Denver. (AP)
