Preventing homeless LGBTQ youth

November is National Runaway Prevention Month and the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) is trying to do something about it.
DYCD presented the final report of the Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Runaway and Homeless Youth at a community forum in Queens Borough Hall on Tuesday, November 16.
DYCD Commissioner Jeanne B. Mullgrav said she is aware the city can’t help every homeless LGBTQ youth, but hopes with the help of preventive services it will be able to keep them in their homes.
“We strengthen the services and we knew we had to,” Mullgrav said. “Today, we have a better system than we did in 2002.”
DYCD already provides drop-in centers, crisis shelters and help with transitional independent living for all youth. Now with the findings of its report, DYCD has extended its services to assist youths up to age 24.
“We need to think how this report is going to translate to Queens because there is so much diversity in the borough,” said Erica Sullivan from Queens Pride House.
Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall explained the main reason LGBTQ youth end up on the streets is because many times parents reject their homosexuality and put them out. Although Marshall feels it should not be that way.
“Many parents don’t accept this,” Marshall said. “Don’t accept the lifestyle. Leaving many with nowhere to turn.”
According to DYCD and gay activists, an estimated 30 to 40 percent of more than 20,000 homeless youth annually are LGBTQ. These youth also have a 6 percent suicide rate compared to 30 percent of straight homeless teens.
“If they are in the streets, then something has gone tragically wrong,” said Councilmember Lewis A. Fidler, chair of the Youth Services Committee.
The report titled “All Our Children: Strategies to Prevent Homelessness, Strengthen Services and Build Support for LGBTQ Youth” found that DYCD and other agencies that serve the homeless population should educate caseworkers about LGBTQ issues, so they can be more gay-friendly and serve their needs better.
The report also suggested that a partnership should be created with religious institutions to reach out to parents who need help dealing with a gay teenager. In addition, it suggested providing more counseling assistance for parents and more LGBTQ youth programs.
Councilmember Daniel Dromm, a long-time gay activist in Jackson Heights who represents the growingly gay area, started the Generation Q Youth Services Program at Queens Community House in Astoria, which serves LGBT youth. Dromm said back then he used to advise kids not to come out to their parents until they could support themselves because of the fear that they would be kicked out of their homes.
While speaking at the forum, Dromm held back tears when he saw one of his former fourth grade students, who is now 17, sitting in the audience. Dromm said the teen had opened up to him about his sexuality, after Dromm came out as an openly gay teacher.
“Be there that they are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender, they are our youth,” Dromm said.