A report was released in New York City on Thursday, December 14, 2006, by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and the National Coalition for the Homeless (AP, Newsday)

The report finds that up to 42% of all the estimated 575,000 to 1.6 million homeless youth in the United States are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). In New York City alone, 8,400 out of an estimated total of 30,000 homeless youth identify as LGBT.

The report says that the rate of homelessness among LGBT youth is becoming an “epidemic” in the United States.

More than a quarter of the LGBT youth who came out to their parents or guardians were kicked out, and once on the street they’re particularly vulnerable to mental health problems and diseases such as AIDS, said the report, which relies mostly on government statistics and existing studies on that population.

Nicholas Ray, an analyst who authored the report for the task force’s Policy Institute, said Danny, a gay homeless youth he met in Colorado, denied he was engaged in prostitution.

“He said, ‘I go to the library and get on (Internet gay sites) just to find a place to sleep for the night. Not for money. I’d sleep with them just so I had a place to stay,”‘ Ray recalled.

In New York, there are three or four shelters specifically for homeless LGBT youth with a total of about 65 beds, and each often has a waiting list, said officials from those shelters, who attended the announcement.

Also, openly gay homeless youth often recount stories of being mistreated, harassed or turned away from other shelters, particularly faith-based ones, city and shelter officials said.

People on the other side of me in this great cultural debate over homosexuality and the place of LGBT people in society often say that there should be absolutely no support mechanisms for LGBT youth, mostly offered by high school student groups such as gay-straight alliances or through support groups and programming offered through local chapters affiliated with Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

More specifically, people such as Alan Chambers of the ex-gay Exodus International and Scott Chambers of their youth counterpart, Exodus Youth, make claims that the true “epidemic” is the rate of “homosexual indoctrination” within America’s high schools.

Of course, one can’t look at this situation without seeing the high rate of LGBT youth who are being kicked out of their homes, by the very people (you know, parents) who are supposed to love them always and unconditionally. The Religious Right and the anti-gay evangelical movements of recent times have done nothing but increase anti-gay feelings, hatred and bigotry – so much so that parents are now turning out their kids when they “come out” as gay to their parents.

No one is “indoctrinating” anyone. No, the gays are attempting to “recruit” your children or spread our “agenda.” What we do want, however, is for LGBT youth to be able to have what we are all guaranteed in by our God and Creator: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Living a life without the love of family, without a home and having to hook up and prostitute oneself just for a place to sleep is no life, it certainly holds no promise of Liberty (or dignity and respect for that matter) and is in no way a “persuance of Happiness.”

Our society has allowed our hate, bigotry and prejudice of “the other” to cloud our judgments over – and obligations to – the most precious members of our society: children and young people.

Many believe that homosexuality is an abomination, a sin worthy of eternal punishment. I have to ask, however, if allowing our beliefs so full of hatred and bigotry to come in the way of caring for our children and youth isn’t a greater sin. What would Christ say to all this? Would he allow these youths to live lives of neglect, hunger, homelessness and allow them to continue being the butt-end of societal hate and bigotry and all the after-effects of it?

I say, “No… He wouldn’t.”

But Jesus Said, ” Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heavn belongs.” Matthew 19:14 NRSV

“…Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we say you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we say you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the kind will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one fo the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry adn you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also wil answer, ‘Lord when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:34-46 NRSV

How have we allowed Christ’s message of love, acceptance, humility and service to others – a message so overwhelming, so powerful that it seems impossible to twist or change – to become a message of hate, bigotry, prejudice and a turning away from those persons who need it the most? Christ has been turned from a loving, merciful Saviour into a hateful, spiteful, prejudiced symbol to hold up and push upon any group of people that another group of people deems “unworthy,” “unfit,” “sinful” and “abominable.”

Matthew 25:34-46 recounts Jesus’ portrayal of “The Final Judgment,” when all of human kind is gathered together to be judged by the only one given power to judge, one last time. Who will Christ allow into heaven? The anti-gay evangelical minister or the openly gay member of an inclusive church who spent years accepting, feeding, clothing, and visiting “the other” and “the least”?

What will Christ say to the minister who spent years preaching that homosexuality was an abomination inside his multi-million dollar church facility filled to the brim with T.V. cameras and with mail boxes full of thousands of dollars from his television empire?

What did the minister do to help the homeless, gay 15 year old boy or girl living on the street only after he taught the boy’s parents that being gay was a “sin” and “abomination” and that they must “separate themselves from sin” causing them to kick out their child? What will Christ say to him? Will the minister be on Christ’s left hand or right hand? Will Christ reward him with eternal life or punishment? Did the minister help “the least of these” or did he hurt them through his hate-filled dogma turned television ratings and money getting religious-political strategy?

Try as they may… Homelessness advocates and workers can build more shelters, buy more beds and reach out to homeless LGBT youth, but this true epidemic of lost youth and innocence will never be solved until we first re-awaken to the true message of Christ and America forgets its hateful, separatist religious “faiths” and “beliefs.” Until Christians of every stripe and color unite and realize that God loves – and accepts “just as he is” – the gay person like the straight person, this epidemic will never end and LGBT youth will continue to live lives so lacking of dignity and love that we would find it un-imaginable to walk even a day in their shoes.

Photo Credits: Street Kid, Crowd of People, Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment”, “Suffer the little children to come unto me” St. John’s Episcopal Church, Somerville

Technorati Tags: homeless, gay youth, New York City, evangelical, least of these, Matthew, Christian, Christ, Final Judgment

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