LGBT Homeless Teens

Over the last couple of years the number of homeless people on the streets has increased, most importantly, the number of homeless youth has also increased a substantial amount. Every day there are more teenagers joining the homeless population. How would you feel if your kids or a young relative would be living out on the streets among the thousands of young homeless people? That doesn't seem right, does it? It's the parents/guardians responsibility to take care of their kids, they depend on you to help them out when they are in trouble but there are some parents who just don't care about their children. Research shows that there are about 12,000-15,000 homeless youth in L.A. and another 10,000 living in the Bay Area (Covenant House California.) According to they NY times, experts say that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people make up a disproportionate number of the homeless youth; they represent as much as 40 percent of the national homeless population (www.nytimes.com)

Young people who become homeless are depicted in the media in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are judged as being from families and homes that are filled with violence. Many other times they are seen as teens that are out in the real world being adventurers. Yet other times, they are seen as "Rebellious" teenagers who leave their homes because they don't want to follow the rules that their parents have established. While it may be true that some homeless youth leave home for some insignificant reasons, Research shows that between 20-30 percent of the homeless youth is part of the LGBT. Because those teens are part of that certain community they get discriminated in their homes, schools, and communities. I believe that the main reason that there are so many young homeless is because they get discriminated against, Most of the time they get discriminated, there is violence involved which can be both physically and emotionally discriminated (http://homeless.samhsa.gov)

Let's say you were also part of the LGBT community, would you want to be in places in which you were discriminated against? Think about it for a while, it's not a place anyone would want to be in. You can pretend to be strong but you know that deep down everything that they say is hurting you. That is why most teens decide to go out into the streets where they know that they will find people that are like them and they won't be judged. There is a quote from Mother Teresa that says "We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty." For me this quote is saying that people need to learn to help instead of judging the people who are in need of emotional support. For example, the teens who are LGBT need someone to be by their side because being how they are isn't easy for them; they are constantly getting judged no matter what they do. For example, In an article in Medicalnewstoday.com, they explain how if you consider yourself part of the LGBT community you are 40% more likely to be discriminated against for the same things that other "normal" people would do (www.medicalnewstoday.com)

I would challenge the parents of LGBT teenagers to support their kids because they are supposed to be by their side no matter what. Communities need to also provide more support for those people. The solution to this problem isn't creating more homeless shelters for the homeless but providing more information to people about what they can do to help someone in need. Even though most homeless people will reject your help, they really want help, they might not even know how they ended up the way they do so stand up for them and help. It would make you feel better knowing that you're helping create a brighter future for a homeless teenager. It will make their life better and it will also help them become someone great in the future. That's why they say "The kids of today are the future of tomorrow." You never know if they could become someone who would save your life someday.

Lesly Sanchez