Tag: LGBT youth

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Pop culture series on young LGBT generation – “Young Americans”

The above video is from a new pop culture series presented by Scion AV and Vice called Young Americans.

The most recent episode of the show was titled “LGBT,” and focused explicitly on sexuality.

Young Americans is directed by renowned filmmaker Lance Bangs (known for his experimental music videos for artists like: Nirvana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth, The Shins, The Black Keys, Odd Future, Kanye West). The eight-part documentary series captures real viewpoints and opinions directly from today’s younger generation about sensitive and taboo issues.

After tackling issues that resonated in 2012, from college debt to social networking, season two of Young Americans sees ethnicity as the overarching lens through which Lance and his team focused in on some targeted topics such as body image, socializing and media representations.

Check out the video above and find more on their YouTube channel here.

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Homeless youth 2012

Yeah, it’s my birthday and that’s all fun.  But for many homeless youth there aren’t many happy birthdays.  For many homeless youth, who are turned out of their homes by families who can’t handle the fact that they are gay or lesbian, every day is very tough.

As the statistics state: 40% of homeless youth are LGBT and the main reason they are homeless is REJECTION.

I was incredibly fortunate my family never turned away from me, but for many LGBT youth it is a reality to find your family reject you for something that has nothing to do with them.

I’m lucky.  I have a good life.  And I’m lucky enough to know it.

I’m not a “birthday” kind of guy.  But if I got to make a real birthday wish – my wish is that these kids find some solace, comfort and support.  I don’t have much but this “soap box”called The Randy Report, but that’s my birthday wish.  Do something nice for the kids out there that have no support. If I can’t get world peace, a cure for HIV and marriage equality – which admittedly takes more than the actions of one – I’d like to ask this. Anyone can contribute to helping homeless youth if they choose to do so. And it will make a difference in a life.  A very important life.

One great place to start, if you don’t have a place in mind, is the Ali Forney Center in NYC.  The Center provides support and housing for LGBT homeless youth.  They rock and make the most of your donations.

No money in these tough times?  No prob – can you donate time?  That’s my plan.  Instead of planting myself in front of my TV at night, I’m looking at helping out at local support centers here in Las Vegas.  Everything helps.

There. That’s my birthday wish.  Help these kids.

Please.

Thanks for reading 🙂

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Cyndi Lauper launches initiative to educate public & help homeless LGBT youth

Cyndi Lauper today launched the Forty to None Project, a national program to educate the public and support homeless LGBT youth. The project’s name comes from the disturbing number of LGBT homeless youth. With up to 1.6 million youth who are homeless each year, 40% identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Lauper wants that number to be “none”.

From a statement by Lauper:

We traveled the country, visiting shelters, drop-in centers, outreach programs and advocacy organizations. We talked to community leaders, service providers, government officials and the kids themselves. We held meetings in 10 cities, from Washington to New York to San Francisco to Minneapolis. We looked for the holes in the system, and we’ve developed a five-year plan to make significant changes happen.

In our first five years, Forty to None will work to drive down the number of gay and transgender youth on the streets through a campaign that includes: education and awareness to raise the visibility of these young people and the direct service providers who work with them; advocacy at the state and federal levels; strengthening the network of services, advocates, community leaders and others working on the issue; training service providers to be more inclusive and understanding of the issues specifically affecting these kids; and empowering homeless gay and transgender youth themselves with valuable resources and information.

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NYC: Get your tickets now for OASIS benefit event

Don’t miss the 3rd Annual Oasis Summer Benefit for The Ali Forney Center at the beautiful Bowery Hotel Terrace this year for a spectacular evening of Chopin sponsored cocktails, silent auction, music, entertainment and more.

Mark your calendars now to make sure you don’t miss out on the summer’s hottest event. Tickets sell out fast, so be sure to watch out for emails about ticket sales in the coming weeks.

Proceeds go to help The Ali Forney Center which provides shelter and services for homeless LGBT youth.

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NYC budget cuts will eliminate 160 youth shelter beds

Carl Siciliano
Carl Siciliano

NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s newly released budget cuts $7 million to the city’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Services, and plan to eliminate 160 youth shelter beds.

Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, NYC’s largest LGBT homeless youth shelter, released a statement this morning:

“Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to throw 160 homeless children out of their shelter beds and into the streets is cruel, reckless and contemptible. These cuts create an even bigger crisis for the LGBT teens who are thrown out of their homes and forced to endure homelessness on the streets of our city. The LGBT community needs and demands political leaders who will protect our children. Instead, Mayor Bloomberg has proposed eliminating more than half of their shelter beds. The Ali Forney Center, and all those who work with and care about LGBT homeless youth, will not be silent in the face of this decision, which offends us as a community and needlessly puts our young people in harm’s way.”
 

According to the Center:

Today’s cuts come in spite of the fact that the need for youth shelter beds continues to grow; in 2011 alone, the waiting list for AFC’s 77 shelter beds grew to 199 youths – an increase of 40 percent over the prior year.  In total, the city only funds 250 shelter beds, for a population of 4,000 homeless youth.   In response to this crisis, the Ali Forney Center and a number of allied LGBT organizations have launched the Campaign for Youth Shelter.  This initiative calls on New York City and State to back an additional $3 million in annual funding, set aside to create 100 new shelter beds every year.  The Campaign today calls for the city to raise its Runaway and Homeless Youth Services budget from the just-announced $5 million to $13.5 million, both revoking today’s cuts and including the city’s half of the annual $3 million.
(source)
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President Obama endorses Student Non-Discrimination Act

The White House has just announced that it is endorsing the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) and the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), two bills that will protect LGBT students in the U.S.

“The President and his Administration have taken many steps to address the issue of bullying,” White House spokesperson Shin Inouye informed Metro Weekly. “He is proud to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act, introduced by Senator Franken and Congressman Polis, and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, introduced by Senator Casey and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez.  These bills will help ensure that all students are safe and healthy and can learn in environments free from discrimination, bullying and harassment.”

Metro Weekly further explains the two pieces of legislation that have just received Obama’s support:

The SSIA would amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include bullying- and harassment-prevention programs, including ones based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The SNDA, modeled after Title IX, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal education nondiscrimination law.

The timing of the news couldn’t be better for the White House, which is fighting off harsh criticism after refusing to protect LGBT workers from discrimination in federal contracting employment.
(Source: Metro Weekly)

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Las Vegas: Annual LGBTQ Prom at The Center on May 12

Click pic to enlarge

It’s Prom Season! Remember when you were in high school and had to face your school’s Prom? Were you able to invite the person you really wanted to? Were you able to wear the prom attire that made you feel most comfortable?

LGBTQ youth are still facing bullying, discrimination and ridicule for bringing a same-sex date and for wearing prom attire that corresponds with their gender identity. That is why The Center has provided a safe environment for over a decade for our youth to have the “prom experience” so many of us have been denied.

Our 12th Annual LGBTQ Prom, the only prom for and by LGBTQ youth in Southern Nevada, will be held on May 12. Last year had the highest attendance to date—201 area youth attended, and more are expected to join in for this year’s Once Upon a Time LGBTQ Youth Prom. The Center really needs some help to cover the expense of this affirming and important event for our youth.

This year, even though some items have been donated,  your financial support could still help. Give someone the chance maybe you never had. Make sure LGBTQ youth get a chance to go to prom—the kind of prom where all young people feel welcome.

Based on previous LGBTQ Proms, The Center’s estimates the expense is $50 a person / $100 a couple. Any size donation will make an impact here for Las Vegas’ youth.

To make a donation to the Once Upon a Time LGBTQ Youth Prom, contact Mel Goodwin at mel@thecenterlv.com or click here to make a donation through PayPal.

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Carl Siciliano writes to Cardinal Dolan on behalf of homeless LGBT youth

From JMG: Carl Siciliano, director of the Ali Forney Center – the nation’s largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth – has written an essay for Huffington Post.  Everyone should read this.

Here’s just part of the essay:

“Cardinal Dolan, I pray that you might be able to open your eyes and your heart to the cruel suffering LGBT youths endure when their parents reject them. I invite you to visit the Ali Forney Center, only 30 blocks from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and meet with youths whose Catholic parents drove them from their homes. I want you to hear them tell you what it is like to have their parents be ashamed of them, and tell them that they are against God. I want you to see what their lives are like alone, unloved, and abandoned in the streets. I hope that by meeting our kids you can understand the pain and anguish you help to cause.

“Decent people protect children from harm. I want you to be that decent person. I hope decent Christians will join me in demanding that religious leaders stop promoting homophobia. As the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, and as the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, you may well be the most influential religious leader in the country, and could make an enormous difference in this crisis of family rejection. I hope and pray that you can stop fighting the acceptance of LGBT people as equal citizens. I want you to understand how LGBT youth suffer because of such a fight. Please see these rejected children through the eyes of a pastor and figure out a way to stop causing them to be harmed.”