L.O.V.E. throws arms around ATL’s LGBT kids
Photo by Gerald Coleman| VOX Staff
It’s hard enough being a teenager. But what happens to teens who are kicked out of their homes because of who they love?
The hard truth is that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens wind up living on the streets. They have no family, no friends, no food and no one to love them.
According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in collaboration with the National Coalition for the Homeless, 26 percent of gay and lesbian youth are forced to leave their homes because of conflicts with their families over their sexual identities and 42 percent of an estimated 1.6 million homeless teens identify as LGBT.
Luckily, the L.O.V.E. (Lifting Our Voices for Equality) Coalition is dedicated to making a difference for these kids.
Last month I attended the organization’s White Party, an art show held downtown at the Youth Art Connection Gallery to raise money for a gay and lesbian community center.
The L.O.V.E. House will offer street outreach, case management, primary medical care, HIV testing, mental health assessment and treatment, food and hygiene care, an employment readiness and assistance program and referral to the group’s housing programs.
The event was filled with art, music, poetry, warmth and pride. Speakers included Stephon Collins, the organization’s founder, poet Antron Reshaud, and Simone Bell, the state’s first black lesbian lawmaker.
Collins said he believes change will come one generation at a time. As the first openly gay man in his family, he definitely knows first hand the feeling of being unaccepted. Those feelings can hurt anyone, but going through them alone can hurt more.
Bell said there are no safe houses for LGBT youth in southern states. Why is that? Is the south stuck in some type of trance? Wake up!
I know not everyone has the same views as me, but love is love. As I write this I get emotional because even though I do not identify as homosexual, I have plenty of friends and family members who do.
As the event came to a close, I found I had a deeper understanding of the struggles of LGBT teens. I realize that I sometimes take the things I have for granted. Having a home to call your own can mean so much. It makes you feel loved.
— Daisha Roberts | VOX Staff
Daisha is a rising senior at Redan High. She loves the world and all of the people who inhabit it.
I know what they feel like-I was thrown out after I came out at 14 and back then there was simply nothing-no help and nowhere to go. I definitely sympathize with these kids!
Unfortunately, the fact that the South has no safe houses for LGBT youth is not at all surprising to me. It speaks to those who say the South is “backwards” and “stuck in the past”. In these ways, we are, and it saddens me to see that. It makes me happy to see that there are people – and especially and organization like L.O.V.E. that recognize this issue and are taking steps to change it.
Wow, this was powerful. I didn’t know we don’t have any safe houses! that is ridiculous, but even so, not really suprising. Travel outside of Atlanta’s immediate area and you’re bound to found some ignorance. That one stat about homeless teens really shocked me though! Nearly 50% of all homeless teens are LGBT! *sigh*
This is a terrible occurrence for these teens. To live without a home because of who you are and who you love isn’t something anyone should experience. The sense of being trapped must be too much to bear at times for these kids. I’m glad that The L.O.V.E. House is there for them. And yes, Stanley is correct in his statement that outside of the perimeter there is quite a bit of ignorance on these issues. I currently work in such a place and am desperately trying to get back to Atlanta. However, I’ve had to come to terms with the ignorance truly being a lack of life experience and repression of who a person naturally is due to small living communities, and work with that knowledge to help bring the larger picture of the world to light with them. Although, there is plenty of discrimination against these LGBT teens inside the perimeter as well, Atlanta is comparably an island and a haven for more groups than anywhere else in the state.