Mayor Bloomberg: Fund More Services For LGBT Homeless Teens

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Coming out to your family and friends is hard enough without the worry of ending up on the streets. Sadly, this is a reality that 40 percent of the 1.7 million homeless teens in America face. Even worse, these teens have a MUCH higher chance of experiencing violence on the streets and in homeless shelter systems.

Did you know…?

• 58 percent of homeless gay and transgender teens have been sexually assaulted. *Compared to 33 percent of straight homeless teens.

• 44 percent of LGBT teens have been asked by someone on the street to exchange sex for money, food, drugs, shelter, or clothes. *Compared to 26 percent of straight homeless teens.

• 88 percent of professional staff that work with these teens say that LGBT young people aren’t safe in group-home environments.

So if these teens aren’t safe in group-home environments, where then? On any given night in New York City there are 3,800 homeless teens (28 percent of the group identify as LGBT) – with 1,600 of them sleeping on the street. And only about 250 youth shelter beds. That number is even less since the new budget reportedly cut $7 million from the city’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Services.

Help us change this by signing and sharing our petition. We want to see a financial commitment made to employ more programs to help LGBT homeless young people, in addition to an increase in youth shelter beds. Upon reaching 3,800 signatures (the number of homeless teens in NYC) we will hand deliver this petition to Mayor Mike Bloomberg.