Grammy Award-winning artist Cyndi Lauper wants to put an end to homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teens (LGBT)—and she’s hoping her new Forty to None Project will raise enough awareness about the problem to make a difference.
The new campaign, part of Lauper’s True Colors Fund, aims to empower and advocate on behalf of homeless LGBT teens, who according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, each year account for between 500,000 and 1.6 million homeless or runaway youth in the U.S. And while LGBT kids make up an estimated three to five percent of the general population, they account for as much as 40 percent of the homeless youth population. The reason? Because families often abuse, neglect, and reject gay and transgender teens due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, Lauper explains in a blog post.
“For far too long, gay and transgender youth who are experiencing homelessness have not received the attention, resources, and support that they desperately require,” says Lauper (left), explaining that Forty to None is the first national organization solely devoted to addressing the needs of homeless LGBT teens and hopes to end to the crisis by bringing the 40 percent figure to none. “All of us must join together to stand with America’s next generation so that they can stand on their own.”
School and public librarians are not only in the perfect position to educate and get the word out about this problem—but they also offer LGBT teens a safe haven, says Greg Lewis, executive director of the True Colors Fund, which seeks to advance LGBT equality and was cofounded by Lauper.
“There is much that the public and those who work directly with kids can do, especially librarians,” he says. “For many young people who find themselves homeless, the local library is the only place where they can search the Internet for information and resources. For this very reason, libraries and librarians can play a major role in dispersing effective, sometimes life-saving information for homeless or at risk gay and transgender youth looking for help.”
Lewis says he encourages all librarians to familiarize themselves with the information and resources available on the Forty to None Project website, and to “urge any homeless or at risk gay and transgender youth who may visit their local or school library to seek help.”
Although the project hasn’t developed any formal ties with libraries as yet, Lewis says, “We would definitely be interested in talking with libraries to ensure that gay and transgender youth are getting the information and are connected to resources that they need to either avoid homelessness or overcome it. Libraries are an important place, and we would definitely be interested in having those conversations.
As part of its campaign, Forty to None has created a public service announcement (PSA) featuring Lauper and teens from various New York City-based youth empowering organizations, including the True Colors Residence housing facility, the Door, Green Chimneys, and Safe Space. It reveals the stark realities of this problem—and urges the general public “to get informed and get involved.”
Lauper first realized the extent of the problem five years ago, while doing a photo shoot on Manhattan’s Christopher Street Pier, along the Hudson River, where a large LGBT youth population hangs out. She asked some teens to join her shoot, and after talking to them understood “just how different my vision was from what they had experienced in their own lives,” she says.
“The youth on the pier that day told me story after story of exclusion, of rejection and of pain,” Lauper writes in her blog post. “As a mother, I can’t ever imagine throwing my child away. I can’t imagine kicking a kid out of my house. I can’t imagine rejecting a person who is, literally, a part of me. But for the kids of the pier, that rejection wasn’t something unimaginable. It was their reality.”
Lauper says the Forty to None project started with a year-long assessment of homeless LGBT youth, focusing on the state-level services available to them and the public’s awareness of the issue.
“We traveled the country, visiting shelters, drop-in centers, outreach programs, and advocacy organizations,” Lauper writes. “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.”
Forty to None’s five-year plan is to “drive down the number of gay and transgender youth on the streets” through an education and awareness campaign; to advocate at the federal level; to train service providers to be more inclusive and understanding of the issues facing these kids; and to empower homeless gay and transgender youth.
A LGBT Homeless Youth Provider Survey, conducted from October 2011 through March 2012 in partnership with the Palette Fund and the Williams Institute at UCLA, will be released July 2. The web-based survey was designed to assess the experiences of homeless youth organizations that provide services and programs for LGBT youth, as well as the prevalence of LGBT youth within the homeless populations that are served by these organizations. In total, 381 respondents completed at least part of the survey, representing 354 agencies throughout the United States.
Watch the Forty to None PSA.
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About Debra Lau Whelan
