New Book: ‘Making Room’ By Carl Siciliano, Founder Of The Ali Forney Center

Carl Siciliano, the founder of The Ali Forney Center – the nation’s largest housing program for homeless LGBTQ youth, has penned a tender, uplifting account of his friendship with a nonbinary teenager who inspired him to live a life of service and resistance – Making Room.

Our need for family is not easily extinguished.

Via press release by Penguin Random House:

Carl Siciliano met Ali Forney—a Black nonbinary teenager overflowing with life—in 1994 while working at a daytime center for homeless youth in New York City.

Nineteen years old and driven from home, Forney was the heart of the community, known for infectious laughter, fierce loyalty to friends, and an unshakeable faith that “my God will love me for who I am.”

Then Forney was murdered – a moment of horror and devastation that exposed the brutality that teenagers like Forney faced in a city marked by gentrification, housing insecurity, and the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic.

Motivated by Forney’s spirit, Siciliano fought to create a home where unhoused teens could live and feel loved – the Ali Forney Center.

This is Siciliano’s story of mending hearts broken by displacement and rejection, including his own.

Siciliano shares what he learned from Forney and thousands of other queer teens—wounded, brave, vibrant people who lived true to their inner experiences and created family under desperate circumstances—while he helped lead a movement that compelled New York City to invest millions of dollars in kids who’d been ignored for decades.

Written with heart and profound insight, Making Room is a landmark personal narrative, bringing to life an untold chapter of LGBTQ history and testifying to the power of community, solidarity, and the human spirit.

I’ve written about and interviewed Carl in the past. This man is a flat-out, stone-cold hero. I can’t wait to read the new book. The release date for Making Room is May 21. You can pre-order the book now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, and other major booksellers. https://twitter.com/JoeMyGod/status/1753538676158583047