We give a damn

As you may or may not know, the Give A Damn Campaign is a project of the True Colors Fund, an organization whose mission is to raise awareness about and bring and end to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth homelessness. Nearly 40 percent of young people experiencing homelessness identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, while five to seven percent of the general youth population does the same. Think about that for a second. The discrepancy is outrageous. And it’s impossible to ignore.

The most frequently cited reason that these kids find themselves without a home is family rejection due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. In other words, they’re being kicked or forced out of their homes simply because of whom they love or how they identify. Our campaign is working to create a world that is accepting and affirming of all young people – so that they aren’t rejected in the first place. Simply put: we give a damn. And we want to live in a world that does too.

We’re at a pivotal moment in the effort to end youth homelessness. Here’s three things you need to know:

#1. It takes all of us.

Sounds obvious, we know. And it should be. Change only occurs when people band together. Back on September 30, the True Colors Fund hosted the first ever Forty to None Summit, a national gathering to discuss and strategize ways to end lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth homelessness. The summit welcomed leading advocates, service providers, funders, government officials, and the youth themselves to share their unique expertise. We’ve been working tirelessly to engage and connect people across fields of work to approach this issue from all angles.

#2. Federal legislation will be a part of the answer.

It’s been 40 years since the initial passing of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA), the only federal law that funds vital services for homeless youth, and the effort to reauthorize it is running strong. Last month, the bill to reauthorize RHYA cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support – moving it forward to a full Senate vote. Next week, our co-founder Cyndi Lauper will be in Washington, D.C. to speak at the Family and Youth Services Bureau’s “Ending Youth Homelessness: A Call to Action,” where findings from a first-of-its-kind federal report on the issue will be released. The event will be webcast live on October 22 at 12pm ET.

#3. It’s not an us/them issue.

Jama Shelton, Director of the Forty to None Project (our sister program) puts it into perspective:

“…it occurred to me that when we talk about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth homelessness within the LGBT movement, we don’t talk about how this is an issue for us. Personally. We are not acknowledging that so many of our current LGBT movement leaders experienced homelessness, were kicked out or pushed out of their homes. Rather, we talk about “helping the kids” and in so doing, we create an us/them dynamic that distances the reality of many of our experiences and forecloses opportunities for connection between current movement leaders and LGBT youth who may be struggling with housing instability. This is not an us/them issue.”

Check out the rest of Jama’s new blog post on why this issue affects us all. She’s pretty brilliant.

People around the country are getting involved in the effort to end youth homelessness, and adding their voices to the many calling for change. Do you give a damn? Take action, and join the national conversation on Facebook and Twitter using #EndYouthHomelessness!

Nicolas Seip is the Program and Communications Associate at the True Colors Fund.