This project centered around advocacy and education. It was presented in class and also utilized by the local HIV/AIDS non-profit Umani Unidad.

1. A Voice in The Wilderness: Addressing the needs of the LGBT Homeless Presenter: Ms. Debra Stanley Student: Brandon Buchanan

2. Direction What is homelessness? Who makes up the LGBT community? Culture Clashes and Casualties Why are so many LGBT youth homeless? Long term Effects What can we do? What Comes First? Putting Yourself In Another’s Shoes

3. Disclaimer: This is a safe space to communicate about your views. No judgments will be made. Since we are talking about such a sensitive subject as sexuality and abuse, I want to establish the right of everyone to speak their mind.

4. Putting a Face on Homelessness In today’s society we see the homeless as an “out of sight, out of mind” phenomenon. There are disproportionate number of LGBT teens that are at risk of falling of this social map (1). The numbers vary from 25% to 40% of the teen homeless population self-identifies as LGBT (2). There are unique circumstances that these teens face when confronting the issues of poverty and homelessness.

5. What does the LGBT community look like? Some Definitions: Sexual Orientation: The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes(3). “Sexual orientation” is a term frequently used to describe a person’s romantic, emotional or sexual attraction to another person. A person attracted to another person of the same sex is said to have a homosexual orientation and may be called gay (both men and women) or lesbian. Individuals attracted to persons of the other sex are said to have a heterosexual orientation. Sexual orientation falls along a continuum and individuals who are attracted to both men and women are said to be bisexual. Sexual orientation is different from gender identity, which refers to the internal sense of whether one is male or female. Sexual orientation is a relatively new concept. In fact, although same sex behavior has always existed, the idea of a homosexual identity or a homosexual person is only about 100 years old. The concept of sexual orientation refers to more than sexual behavior. It includes feelings as well as identity. Some individuals may identify themselves as gay lesbian or bisexual without engaging in any sexual activity. Some people believe that sexual orientation is innate and fixed; however, sexual orientation develops across a person’s lifetime. Individuals maybe become aware at different points in their lives that they are heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual (4).

6. Gender Identity Gender Identity: an individual’s self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex. For most persons, gender identity and biological characteristics are the same. There are, however, circumstances in which an individual experiences little or no connection between sex and gender; in transsexualism, for example, biological sexual characteristics are distinct and unambiguous, but the affected person believes that he or she is—or ought to be—of the opposite sex (see transsexualism). Gender identity is not fixed at birth; both physiologic and social factors contribute to the early establishment of a core identity, which is modified and expanded by social factors as the child matures. Basic gender identity—the concept “I am a boy” or “I am a girl”—is generally established by the time the child reaches the age of three and is extremely difficult to modify thereafter. In cases where biological sex was ambiguous at birth and errors in sexing were made, it has been almost impossible to reestablish the proper identity later in childhood or adolescence. Furthermore, a secondary gender identity can be developed over the core identity, as sex-associated behaviors may be adopted later in life; heterosexual or homosexual orientations also develop later. + Like an individual’s concept of his or her sex role, gender identity develops by means of parental example, social reinforcement, and language. Parents teach sex-appropriate behavior to their children from an early age, and this behavior is reinforced as the child grows older and enters a wider social world. As the child acquires language, he also learns very early the distinction between “he” and “she” and understands which pertains to him- or herself(5).

7. Culture War and the Hapless Casualties As we have discussed previously, there are certain cultural interactions between groups that can predispose them to certain responses –these can create a culture of poverty. Youth in homes that are already destabilized suffer the most. Youth are at a high risk of being put in the vulnerable position in this debate, as they are often overlooked. What can we do to address them in the conversation? And how can we mobilize resources for them?

8. Qualities and Stereotypes There are certain internal qualities that many within the gay community ascribe to. A cursory list: Affluence Fashion Travel Beauty and Health Youth Culture

9. Stereotypes Stereotypes are beliefs about a certain group, i.e. certain characteristics or attitudes that are expanded to all members (usually by people of the out-group). Many of the qualities that the gay community has internalized are those of the larger society as a whole, and as such they can be very misleading. The idea of the “pink pound phenomenon” can be an excuse to understand that the effects of poverty on LGBT youth are not important in later life, since the adults of the community are so well off.

10. The Pink Pound: A Reality or a Myth? While it is often assumed that the LGBT community is relatively affluent, especially because of the higher likely hood that they will not be spending money on children, this has been challenged by recent survey projects (6). There are also different social effects that may be contributing to this stereotype. Advertising in the media has internalized the idea that LGBT people are the fashionistas and world travellers that the world paints them as. More information needs to be gathered because of the limitations of our current survey methods (7).

11. “All in the Family” As we saw in the article on poverty in the LGBT community, the fact that there is a certain standard for measuring poverty –and that it is a heteronormative one, can explain the wildly varying stats on LGBT homelessness. Theses measures lack the rigor then to provide adequate information for policy makers and the shelters that are seeking to address this problem. This also accounts for the popular misconception of LGBT homelessness as a myth or a overhyped plea amongst the LGBT community itself –thus leading to an apathy that reduces the communities own defensive mechanisms (7).

12. Why are so many LGBT teens homeless? A Few Causes: “Among adolescents in general, GLBT youths are more vulnerable to health and psychological problems than are heterosexual youths. Many are victims of parental physical abuse, are substance abusers, and have both mental and general physical health problems. (8)” “An estimated one-third of LGBT youth are physically abused by a family member after their sexual orientation or gender identity is discovered. (9)” “As well as violence and abuse within the home, some young people identified that homophobic bullying and assaults at school and in the neighborhood contributed to their decision to leave home. (10)”

13. When Your In, Your In: Effects of homelessness on LGBT youth “These outcomes include more frequent departures from home, greater vulnerability to physical and sexual victimization, higher rates of addictive substance use, more psychopathology, and riskier sexual behavior in comparison with homeless heterosexual adolescents (11).” Homeless Youth are more likely to fall through the cracks in the system, as “[o]ne reason for the disproportionate of homeless LGBT youth may be…[i]f a youth is thrown out of her home or runs away in her late teens, she may not be placed in foster care before aging out (12).” There are many instances were leaving the home didn’t result in immediate homelessness, until a loss of live-in accommodation or a break in the partner relationship occurred (13).

15. Private Showers

16. Occupancy Cap

17. Prohibiting Discrimination in the Provision of Services

18. Nondiscrimination and Sensitivity Training

20. Putting Yourself In Another’s Shoes: What does it mean to be a homeless LGBT teen? Take your slips. Numbers 1 will read first and we will read and analyze each of the scenarios in turn. Questions about the Activity: How do each of these situations make you feel? What alternative routes could there have been to prevent that discomfort? How well do you think that non-LGBT people can adequately empathize with people who are homeless and identify as LGBT?

21. Discussion Questions What sort of cultural representations do we find that perpetuate LGBT homelessness? Do you think that identifying as a part of providing a service to LGBT members would work? Why or why not? What roles do gender and race play when looking at LGBT homelessness? How might we create a better system to gather data about LGBT poverty? Can we “educate out” homo or transphobia? What role do religious organizations play in serving this population? Finally, how effective can the idea of separation be in alleviating the violence experienced by LGBT youth?