Homeless Gay Teens : Out and Alone

[Mari333]

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2007/05/17/us/20070517_GAY_FEATURE.html

* Suicide is the leading cause of death among gay and lesbian youth. (1)
* Gay and lesbian youth are 2 to 6 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth. (1)
* Over 30% of all reported teen suicides each year are committed by gay and lesbian youth. (1)

REJECTION

* 50% of all gay and lesbian youth report that their parents reject them due to their sexual orientation. (2)
* 26% of gay and lesbian youth are forced to leave home because of conflicts over their sexual orientation. (1)
* In a study of 194 gay and lesbian youth, 25% were verbally abused by parents, and nearly 10% dealt with threatened or actual violence. (12)

HOMELESSNESS

* Approximately 40% of homeless youth are identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual. (3)
* Service providers estimate that gay, lesbian and bisexual youth make up 20-40% of homeless youth in urban areas. (18)
* In a study of male teenagers self-described as gay or bisexual, 27% moved away from home because of conflict with family members over sexual orientation. Almost half had run away from home at least once. (2)

[mondo joe]

1. There's a homeless youth clinic in my neighborhood. There are kids there as young as 12.

When my older daughter was 12 I barely felt comfortable with her crossing the street.

These kids are living on the streets.

If anyone has in their community a similar service to help homeless kids turn their lives around, it's worth supporting.