WHAT/WHY: On Friday, June 24th, at 5:30 PM, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) advocates, providers, and allied politicians and celebrities will be joining homeless LGBTQ youths in front of the Stonewall Inn to announce the launching of a campaign calling on New York City and the State of New York to commit to providing shelter to every homeless youth in New York.
The event will follow a June 17 meeting between 30 Rock star and comedian Tracy Morgan and several homeless LGBTQ youths from the Ali Forney Center. At the June 17 meeting, coming after Morgan's anti-gay remarks at a performance in Nashville, Morgan had the opportunity to learn from these youths and their experiences of rejection at the hands of homophobic family members.
A recent report indicated that every night, almost 4,000 youths go without shelter in NYC. LGBTQ youths make up 40% of the homeless youth population, and face enormous risk of violence, HIV infection, and suicide as they struggle to survive on the streets without shelter. These youths make up such a disproportionate percentage because so many are rejected by their families because of their sexual orientations and gender identities. New York State recently cut its funding for youth shelter beds by 50%, despite there being far too few beds to begin with.
A group of providers and advocates including the Ali Forney Center, The Bronx Pride Center, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services, The Empire State Pride Agenda, and Green Chimneys have determined to carry out a campaign to engage the LGBTQ community and the broader community in calling upon our city and state-level politicians to implement a plan to provide shelter for every homeless youth.
The launch event will occur in front of the Stonewall Inn during Pride Week to call attention to the central role that homeless LGBTQ street youth played in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which set in motion a movement that has so greatly improved the lives of so many LGBTQ people. The presence of this event on this historic site will symbolize the need for the LGBTQ community to make the protection of its most vulnerable youth a core priority in our movement for freedom and equality. Martin Boyce and Danny Garvin, two of the youths who were part of the Stonewall uprising, will be speaking in support of this campaign.
Said Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center: "Too many teens come out of the closet, only to be thrown out of their homes. I am sick and tired of seeing so many kids stranded out on the streets of NYC without shelter. The time is long overdue for our community to stand up and demand our youths be protected."
"We are gravely concerned about the unmet needs of LGBTQ runaway and homeless youth and are committed to continuing our advocacy for adequate, culturally competent shelter, along with the members of the New York State LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network," said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Ross D. Levi. "It is our duty as a community and as a movement to work with the city and the state to ensure that our most vulnerable are not left behind."
Said Margo Hirsch, Executive Director of the Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services: "Every night in our city, 3800 adolescents have no place to call home. These young people represent the diversity of our town, they are Black, Latino, White and Asian; gay, straight and bi-sexual; male, female, transgender and intersex; they are our citizens and they are undocumented; they were born here and they come from every part of the world. Despite this diversity, these young people have one thing in common; they are young and homeless in the city."
WHEN/WHERE:
Friday, June 24
5:30 PM
The Stonewall Inn
53 Christopher St.
New York, NY
WHO:
A full list of speakers, including attending politicians and celebrities, will be issued closer to the date of the event.
Announced speakers include:
Martin Boyce and Danny Garvin, veterans of the 1969 Stonewall riot.
Participating organizations include:
The Ali Forney Center
The Bronx Pride Center
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services
Empire State Pride Agenda
Green Chimneys
Queer Rising
The Ali Forney Center (AFC) was started in June of 2002 in response to the lack of safe shelter for LGBTQ youth in New York City. The Center is committed to providing these young people with safe, dignified, nurturing environments where their needs can be met, and where they can begin to put their lives back together. AFC is dedicated to promoting awareness of the plight of homeless LGBTQ youth in the United States with the goal of generating responses on local and national levels from government funders, foundations, and the LGBTQ community.
