Prejudice and homophobia in the form of kicking LGBT youth out of their homes is often ignored by society. An article from The Advocate (a news sources related to the LGBTQ community), focuses on the overwhelming statistics that lay behind this issue and further evidence of society's disregard for homeless LGBT youth. Delving into the effects that exiling queer youth from their homes have upon their sense of well-being and security, as well as Clare's and Van der Meer's ideas on how culture tolerates discrimination and violence towards homosexuals as a whole, I argue that society needs to stop overlooking the injustices suffered by homeless queer youth.
Society's lack of awareness towards LGBT homeless youth is the greatest obstacle for the improvement of their circumstances. First of all, many people are not even aware of the strong correlation between homelessness and gay youth. According to the news article, "a number of studies of homeless youth in big cities put forth a startling statistic, somewhere between thirty and forty percent of homeless youths identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender" (Adler 2011). Gay youth, apparently, are more susceptible to being exiled from the safety and comfort of their homes, as opposed to heterosexual youth. Suffocating in silence, gay, homeless youth have nowhere to turn to- their friends, family members, and even the very people who created them...have ostracized them. Society also plays a role in contributing towards their suffering- day after day, mostly everybody just walks right past these kids; the combination of being "smelly, homeless, and gay" is more than enough to drive most people away. I believe that this kind of mentality needs to change, in order to make an impact on that status quo. The first step we can take towards increasing awareness is to heavily publicize the stories of individuals such as Tiffany Cocco and Jeremiah Beaverly. Tiffany Cocco, now 23, has been homeless ever since she was a teenager. In an attempt to cope with the bullying from her peers in school due to her LGBT status, Tiffany "...did some drugs, and was kicked out by her parents" (Adler 2011). Life on the streets forced her to see shelter in every little pocket of Harlem- "...the train was [her] best ride...[she also] slept on stoops, benches- then finally, shelters" (Adler 2011). Jeremiah Beaverly was exiled from his home on the day after his 18th birthday. After living with his friends for a while, Jeremiah was able to find emergency housing, which is available for only 90 days. In order to help raise awareness from the ignorant public, I believe that accounts such as these, which are nothing short of compelling, must be widely publicized.
Society takes an indifferent stance when faced with issues such as queer youth being homeless, because society is partial to heterosexuals. According to Eli Clare, a queer woman who also has a disability, "...it's not our bodies that need curing. Rather, it is ableism- disability oppression, as reflected in high unemployment rates, lack of access, [and] substandard education [for kids]- that needs changing" (Clare 2001). As Clare emphasizes, there is nothing wrong with being disabled or gay. I could not agree more- how can one possibly change his or her identity; something that defines the very existence of an individual? The fact that this world is built for the able-bodied and the heterosexual...in my opinion, that's what needs to be altered. In connection to the news article, homeless queer youth are entangled in a war for resources, which are not as easily accessible to them because of their status as a sexual minority. Carl Siciliano, founder of the Ali Forney Center, "the nation's largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth," says that for these kids, it's "...a different kind of struggle"(Adler 2011). As opposed to fighting for gay rights, this time, the fight is for meeting the bare, minimal necessities of life. It is difficult to motivate our society to help win this struggle because anti-gay sentiments have been entrenched in our culture for so long. Theo Van der Meer wrote an article regarding gay-bashing as a rite of passage in Western societies. While gay-bashing as a rite of passage may not be as popular of a phenomenon in America, the struggle for power (dominance versus submission) between individuals is ever omnipresent. Throughout history, gays have been viewed by most people to be weak and inferior...perhaps this is another reason why people today remain apathetic towards the sight of queer homeless youth.
We need to stop ignoring queer homeless youth and accommodate them within our society. All they need is a bit of food, shelter, and funding to help them get back on their feet again, and obtain an equal opportunity for achieving success and self-worth. Lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, queer, hetero...no kid should ever have to live on the streets, beg for food, and suffer under the cold night sky.
Bibliography:
Adler, Margo. Young, Gay, and Homeless: Fighting for Resources. National Public Radio. 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 7 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.npr.org/2011/11/20/142364493/young-gay-and-homeless-fighting-for-resources>.
Clare, Eli. Stolen Bodies, Reclaimed Bodies: Disability and Queerness. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011. Print.
Van Der Meer, Theo. "Gay Bashing- A Rite of Passage?" Culture, Health, and Sexuality 5.2 (2003): 153-165. Print.
It is extremely interesting to observe the amount of youth that become homeless in relation to their identification with the LGBTQ community. The idea that a whole generation of queer youth has yet another difficulty to overcome due to being kicked out of their home is something that not many people consider. Parents of queer youth should be the ones supporting them the most, but unfortunately, many decide to disown their children due to something as simple as who their child loves. I feel as if a lot of these actions can be attributed to homophobia, and the ignorance that accompanies it. In Barbara Smith’s article, Homophobia: Why Bring It Up?, she mentions the ways that homophobia is more widespread in our country than sexism, racism, and class oppression. What stood out to me was the quote “expressions of homophobia are… acceptable where other kinds of verbalized bigotry would be prohibited.” Thinking of all the circumstances I have witnessed- where the word gay is used as a put down, where people are denied jobs and potential friendships due to their nonconforming to gender stereotypes, and especially where people who identify with the LGBTQ community are scared to inform their friends and family about who they love for fear of repercussion- it is extremely easy to see how rampant homophobia is present in today’s society.
ReplyDeleteBarbara Smith “Homophobia: Why Bring it Up?” from The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed Henry Ablelove et al New York & London: Routledge, 1993.
Response #1.)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree homelessness among LGBQT teens is a major issue. It’s hard to believe a parent or family member would kick out a defenseless adult out of their home merely because they are gay or gender queer, but it is happening.
The article “Gay and Transgender Youth Homelessness by the Numbers,” on the website for the Center of American Progress discusses the alarming numbers. There is an estimated 1.6 to 2.8 million homeless teenagers/youths in America. The article suggests that many of the homeless youth are in fact LGBQT given that 20-40 percent of the youth homeless population is gay or LGBQT.
An even more disturbing number is the percentage of homeless LGBQT youths who have been sexually assaulted. 58 percent of the LGBQT homeless youth population has been sexually assaulted compared to the heterosexual homeless youth at 38 percent.
Ahn also comments on gay bashing in Theo Van Der Meer’s article. Sadly in “Gay Bashing- a right of passage?” it is young confused males perpetrating the violence in what Van Der Meer belives is a “rite of passage into masculinity.” These young men Van Der Meer writes believe “themselves to be performing a service to society and projected this attitude onto everyone in their vicinity” (Pg. 156).
It’s a very sad situation and there is no one way to fix these problems, but we need to start somewhere. People cannot sit back and watch LGBQT teens suffer any longer. Families who kick their adolescents out of the house for their sexuality should face legal repercussions and court mandated therapy, and we absolutely cannot allow gay bashing in any form anywhere.
1.)"Gay and Transgender Youth Homelessness by the Numbers." Http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/homelessness_numbers.html. 21 June 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
2.) Van Der Meer, Theo. "Gay Bashing - a Rite of Passage?" Culture, Health, and Sexuality 5.2 (2003): 153-65. Print.
I strongly agree with your post when you state that in order to fix the problem of the homelessness among the queer youth community, our first step has to be raise awareness of the issue. As you said in your post, the rejection of the LGBTQ community from the traditional home stems from a history of rejection of the community in our society. In “Thinking Sex,” Gayle Rubin discusses the sex hierarchy that divides good, natural, healthy sex, and bad, abnormal, sinful sex. “Only sex acts on the good side of the line are considered morally right” (Rubin 14). This separation of good and bad sex has been so deeply entrenched into our society that it can not easily be, if ever, abolished. With homosexual activity on the bad, “sinful,” and “immoral” side of the hierarchy, it is obvious to see why around 40% of the homeless population in big cities identity themselves as a part of the LGBTQ community. More and more gay youth are being rejected from their homes and forced onto the streets because of their “immoral” behavior, but this issue is being largely ignored by society mainly because the majority of societies ignorance on the issue. Because anti-gay sentiments are so entrenched in our society as a result of a long history of homosexuality being considered “abnormal,” it would be impossible to eliminate the issue of homelessness all together, but that does not mean there is nothing we can do now. We need to bring forth the issue into the public to eliminate the ignorance, start providing resources to the large number of queer youth already on the streets, and create an atmosphere of hope and support in the queer youth community in order to help them get off the street and move forward with their lives. By doing these things, not only can we start fighting the problem of homeless queer youth, but it is also a large step forward in the slow battle to get rid of the oppressive sexual hierarchy for good.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Gayle Rubin. “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality.” Social Perspectives in Gay and Lesbian Studies. ed. Peter M Nardi & Beth Schneider.
I agree that homelessness among queer youth is a big issue that is often ignored. Most individuals assume that the homeless are lazy and out on the streets because of their own wrongful doings. Being gay is not wrong and should not be punished by parents. In my writing class, I watched a film on African American transgender and gay males who were homeless in New York City. There were so many of them, and if it were not for other adult queers who took them into their shelter, many of them would be dead. By constantly rejecting queer youth and putting them out on the streets, young children are being placed in danger. Queer youth out on the streets are more likely to be beaten, raped, or killed. Van De Meer mentions in his article, Gay Bashing: A right of Passage?, that gay bashers will select victims who are weak and will not fight back (p.155). Homeless queer youth would be perfect victims in the eyes of these criminals. In the film I mentioned, there was a transgender male, who in order to make money, had to prostitute himself. He had been kicked out of his home at the age of 14. Sometimes men would pick him up and beat him when they realized that he was not a woman. By the time the documentary had been finished, this man had been killed. If homophobia is kicking these young men into the streets and homophobia is getting them killed in the streets, there is no place for them to find safety. It is extremely sad that parents are even allowed to leave their children out on the streets, and nothing is done about it.
ReplyDeleteVan Der Meer, Theo. “Gay Bashing: A right of Passage?” Culture, Health, and Sexuality, Vol.5, No. 2. 2003.