A 2017 study by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago found that LGBTQ youth become homeless at a significantly higher rate than the adolescent population as a whole. They have a 120% higher risk for homelessness.
About 40% of youth experiencing homelessness in NYC and other large cities identify as LGBTQ.
LGBTQ communities often get reduced to stereotypes and youth is a vulnerable part of it. Not only are they dealing with pressure from friends, peers at school, and society trying to tell them what “normal” looks like, but too often, kids who come out to their parents as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender are rejected or thrown out of their homes.
I wanted to give LGBTQ youths a voice. I wanted to put a face on this under-discussed issue and get the public to understand the tragic scope of this problem and the profound influence that family acceptance plays in the lives of LGBTQ youths.
This project was published in the HuffPost