November 8th In NYC: Fundraising Concert For The Ali Forney Center

Monday, November 8th in New York City, the Ali Forney Center will stage a fundraising concert featuring Alan Cumming, David Raleigh, Billy Porter, and dance music star Ari Gold.

It’s no secret. Our LGBT youth are suffering now more than ever before, as you may have seen in recent news. These teens need support, they need help, and most of all, they need friends. For these reasons, Alan Cumming, Ari Gold, Billy Porter and I have founded a benefit we are calling The Friends Project. It is my pleasure to invite you to a ONE NIGHT ONLY EVENT with me and my friends. Together, we will raise awareness of this grave issue, celebrate life and release the world premier of our new music video, “That’s What Friends Are For.” All proceeds will benefit the Ali Forney Center, an organization that works tirelessly to serve New York City’s homeless LGBT youth. The center sees vulnerable LGBT teens through that fragile transition between adolescence and adulthood. We are friends of the Ali Forney Center and we are friends to the city’s struggling LGBT teens.

Get tickets here!

On San Francisco's Proposition L

Anybody who has visited or lived in San Francisco over the last decade might agree that after the city's physical beauty, the single-most memorable feature of the town is its staggering, almost Third Worldly volume of homelessness. Many politicians have tried and failed to legislate the homeless out of town, but San Francisco has a deserved reputation as a haven for those down on their luck and has a support system of food banks and advocacy groups that some accuse of actually exacerbating the problem by drawing even more homeless to San Francisco from other areas.

And so, for the umpteenth time, comes along this year's attempt to deal with the problem, Proposition L, which is meant to give the city's business owners (and homeowners) some daytime respite from the homeless who often camp in front of their doors for weeks at a time. (I've seen the same five young men camping in front of a Castro Street retailer for the last five days. Other encampments exist all over the Castro.)

Proposition L would make it illegal to sit or lie on sidewalks citywide from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Police officers must give a warning before they can give a citation, but for someone who does not comply, police could use jail time as a threat. Many understandable exceptions are built into the law — babies in strollers, people in wheelchairs, parades, waiting in line, food carts.

Proponents claim that similar laws have been effective in places like Seattle and Berkeley, but others say that the city already has numerous (largely unenforced) laws that address the same issue. When Mayor Gavin Newsom first put Proposition L before the city's supervisors, they rejected it with a veto-proof majority. Newsom then worked to put it before San Francisco's voters. This week the city's gay paper, the Bay Area Reporter, endorsed Proposition L.

Prop L: Sitting or Lying on Sidewalks. YES.

Known as the Sit/Lie measure, this proposition came out of the neighborhoods, particularly the Haight. Residents and businesses alike complained that aggressive and disruptive behavior was harming businesses and the quality of life for residents and visitors. This proposition gives the police an additional tool that they feel they need in order to keep the neighborhoods safe and pleasant. We would be reluctant to support such a measure if it were in another community than San Francisco. However, we have confidence in Police Chief George Gascon, who strongly supports this measure, as well as the officers on the street who have undergone intensive sensitivity training to respect the diversity of cultures and lifestyles that thrive in San Francisco.

Confusing the issue for voters is Proposition M, which would prevent Prop L from going into effect, but only if both measures are approved AND Prop M gets more votes.

I really don't know what to think about Prop L, maybe because I don't live here anymore and can't get as angry as the locals obviously are. Especially in the Castro, the homeless appear to be young male drifters without any obvious mental or physical handicaps other than (probably) drug addiction. (A couple of them I recognize from when I first moved here fifteen years ago.) But I don't know if that should even matter. And I'm not sure where the proponents of Prop L actually expect these people to go.

Carl Siciliano On LGBT Teen Suicides

At the Ali Forney Center's annual fundraising dinner on Thursday, executive director Carl Siciliano spoke passionately about the recent rash of LGBT youth suicides and the mission of his organization to create safe spaces for queer kids attempting to escape hopeless (and often brutal) home situations. Watch this.

After his speech, Carl dropped a bit of a bombshell. Last year the single largest private donation to the Ali Forney Center came from the estate of Bea Arthur. Which we knew about. But the second largest amount of private donations came from the readers of JMG via fundraising requests made on this here website thingy. Amazing. Thank you. Immediately after Carl made that revelation, I then had to come up and give my acceptance speech for the Ali Forney Center Advocate Award. Talk about verklempt! Was not ready for that news. The photo below is by Gustavo Monroy, check out his gallery from the evening. Lots of handsome men within, some of whom you'll recognize from a certain brand-new gay reality show.

HomoQuotable - Carl Siciliano

"I dream of a day where every gay youth in our country will have access to safe spaces, where no gay kid will live more than 100 miles from a space where LGBT youth can go to find community and support. But the creation of these life-saving spaces will require the passionate commitment and attention of the adult LGBT community. We need to pay attention to what is available to teens in our local communities. We need to raise funds and resources to support these spaces, and be aggressive in advocating that our tax dollars be used to support spaces where our teens receive the support they need.

"In the last eighteen months, in a city with as large an LGBT population as New York City, the Ali Forney Center lost funding for its emergency shelter, Green Chimney's lost funding for its foster care program, and Hetrick Martin and the LGBT Center lost funding for their after-school youth programs. Our youth need an adult community that is so committed to their welfare that such cuts to lifesaving services for LGBT teens could not occur without a tremendous outcry from our community.

"Too many of our youth are under attack in their homes, schools and communities. Homophobia creates environments that are deadly to our youth. We need to recognize the depth of this crisis and see the protection of our youth as a core responsibility of our movement. We need to build a support system that will save their lives." - Ali Forney Center executive director Carl Siciliano, in a response to the national epidemic of gay teen suicides.

Read Siciliano's four step program for protecting LGBT youth.

REMINDER: Ali Forney Center's Annual Fundraiser Dinner Is This Thursday

True Blood's Denis O'Hare hosts the Ali Forney Center's "A Place At The Table" fundraising dinner gala this Thursday in New York City, where the honorees include furniture mogul/activist Mitchell Gold and a certain "perverted atheist leatherman blogger." Get tickets here. If you can't attend, please consider making a contribution to the Ali Forney Center's desperately needed work for homeless LGBT youth.

October 7th In NYC: Ali Forney Center's "A Place At The Table" Annual Benefit

The Ali Forney Center, NYC's homeless shelter for LGBT youth, will be holding their annual "A Place At The Table" benefit gala dinner on October 7th at 91 Horatio Street in the West Village. Get tickets here. This year's host is openly gay Tony winning actor Denis O'Hare, whom you may best know as True Blood's vicious vampire, Russell Edgington.

The Ali Forney Center's 2010 honorees are furniture mogul, author and gay activist Mitchell Gold...and somehow...yours truly. How'd that happen? I can just picture the King Of Mississippi ripping my heart out in mid-acceptance speech. "Now, time for the weather. Tiffany?" Seriously, I'm very flattered. As longtime JMG readers and my pals know, I can't go two sentences about the noble and desperately needed work of the Ali Forney Center without needing a tissue.

Get tickets here. If you can't attend, please consider making a donation. Times are hard everywhere, but nowhere more so than charities such the Ali Forney Center, where the stream of desperate gay youth is endless, but the money flow is definitely not. If you are a business owner or ad buyer, please consider placement in the evening's program.

RELATED: Check out my post from last year's "A Place At The Table" where the honorees were NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Councilman Lewis Fidler, with entertainment provided by Rufus Wainwright. Also in the house last year: Sandra Bernhard, Dan Choi, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

GEORGIA: Gay Teen Launches Group To Help LGBT Youth In Crisis

Georgia teen Derrick Martin has partnered with the Trevor Project and other groups to create Project Life Vest, an organization meant to assist LGBT youth facing discrimination after they come out. You may recall that Martin was kicked out of his home in March after attending his high school prom with his boyfriend.

“My situation and the attention it has drawn have provided me a unique perspective and opportunity that I feel I cannot pass up”, Martin noted. “Young people who, like myself, have been disadvantaged because of discrimination, hate, or ignorance need somewhere to turn for help. GLAAD was my life vest, and I plan to be a life vest to as many others as I can. I only want those who face obstacles like mine to know that they are not alone, for everyone has the right to love regardless of sexual orientation.” Project LifeVest’s mission is simple: “To be a helping hand, a life vest, to as many LGBT teens and adults as possible. We will carry out this mission through the establishment of safe places in as many cities as possible; through a call center with a qualified team of counselors who can give advice where needed; through screening a network of families who can, when need arises, host rejected teens while they finish schooling or find a new home.”

Project Life Vest is accepting donations.

NEW YORK CITY: Summer Benefit For The Ali Forney Center - Wed. July 21st

On Wednesday July 21st, the Ali Forney Center will hold a summer benefit party at Hudson Terrace. Get tickets here and help support AFC's vital work for NYC's homeless LGBT youth. Facebook event page here.

RELATED: Visit Frank And Gabe today for a great interview with AFC's mega-hunky executive director Carl Siciliano.

NEW YORK: Big Crowd Rallies For Homeless LGBT Youth

Several hundred activists rallied in New York City's Union Square last night in support of homeless LGBT youth. The rally, which was sponsored by the Ali Forney Center, featured speeches from Lt. Dan Choi and actress Sandra Bernhard among others. Frank And Gabe reports:

One of the event’s prominent speakers was Lt. Dan Choi, who brought an incredible emotional resonance to the crowd, urging everyone to join him in cheering for LGBT Youth and equality. “I have a message to all the LGBT Youth wondering if it’s worth it to come out,” he said. ” You deserve to be treated like a full person. You are my heroes. Say it with me, I am somebody. I am somebody. I am somebody and I deserve full equality right here, right now.” That damage experienced by LGBT Youth was evident in the statistics alone. NYC Council Member Lewis Fidler cited sobering figures about the number of homeless children in New York City, and added that a significant percentage of these children are LGBT. Putting a face to these numbers were several gay youth who stood up to tell the crowd their story. Most had experienced a similar trajectory. Having grown up in conservative, religious households, when they came out to their parents or guardians, they soon found themselves on the street. Organizations working to help LGBT youth like the Ali Forney Center took them in, and now some were even working for the same organizations that had given them a lifeline when needed it most.

JMG reader Jamie McGonnigal has a large photo gallery of the event posted to his Facebook page.

NEW YORK CITY: Homeless LGBT Youth Shelter Defaced With Anti-Gay Graffiti

A just-opened Queens residence for clients of the Ali Forney Center, which serves the city's homeless LGBT youth, was defaced with anti-gay graffiti yesterday. Via press release:

The Ali Forney Center’s newly opened shelter for homeless LGBT youth in Astoria Queens was defaced last night with anti-gay graffiti. At 6am this morning, two of the residents of the shelter discovered the slurs which included; "We don't want gay people here" written on the exterior of the shelter, and "Gay Shelter" written on the site’s door (see attached JPG). "I am infuriated that someone would target our kids in this cowardly way" says Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, the nation’s largest organization serving homeless LGBT youth. "The young people who come to us for help and shelter have already experienced terrible hardship, and I will not stand for them to be further abused." The Ali Forney Center (AFC) is working with the New York City Anti-Violence Project, with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and with local Councilmember Peter Vallone on devising strategies to protect its residents from further attacks. AFC has also reached out to the local police precinct and the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force who are now conducting an investigation into the incident.

Both the NYC Anti-Violence Project and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn have issued statements denouncing the incident. The Astoria, Queens shelter is in a church building provided at low cost to the Ali Forney Center by the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.

RELATED: A previously scheduled rally in support of NYC's homeless LGBT youth will take place this Monday at 6:30pm in Union Square. Please consider attending.

Monday June 14th: Ali Forney Center Rally To Protect Homeless LGBT Youth

The Ali Forney Center will hold a rally in support of LGBT youth on June 14th at NYC's Union Square.

As LGBT youth find the courage to come out of the closet at younger ages, thousands are being rejected by their families and forced out of their homes. As many as 40% of the homeless youth in the United States are LGBT. Homeless LGBT youth are subjected to violence and harassment on the streets and in mainstream youth shelters. This phenomenon of thousands of LGBT youth being forced from their homes due to homophobia, stripped of economic support, and made to endure homelessness represents the most terrible cruelty and intolerance currently directed at the LGBT community. We call on the members of the LGBT Community, our straight allies, and on all decent people who believe that youths should not be thrown to the streets for being LGBT, to rally in support of LGBT homeless youth.

Here's the event's Facebook page. I'll be there. Come out and get your photo taken with Carl Siciliano and I'll publish a slideshow here on JMG.

Emily West - Blue Sky

On last night's episode of Celebrity Apprentice, Cyndi Lauper's team won their makeover challenge, netting $20K for Lauper's True Colors homeless shelter for LGBT youth. The subject of Lauper's makeover, rising country star Emily West, then announced that she was donating 100% of the iTunes sales for her new single (below) to True Colors. Get it here.

April 19th In NYC: Ali Forney Center's Broadway Beauty Pageant

The Ali Forney Center's annual Broadway Beauty Pageant takes place Monday, April 19th at Symphony Space in Manhattan. The Ali Forney Center serves NYC's homeless LGBT youth.

Handsome hunks from your favorite Broadway shows competing to raise money for the Ali Forney Center, an organization that provides shelter and services to homeless LGBT youth in New York City. Join host Tovah Feldshuh, and our judges Christine Ebersole, Charles Busch, and Jackie Hoffman as the boys compete for the crown. In true Beauty Pageant style, these sexy stars square off in the interview competition, talent competition, and the ever-popular swimsuit competition. Buy your tickets now! After the show we invite you to mix and mingle with the cast at the Sunburnt Calf (226 West 79th Street). VIP guests will be invited to enjoy an hour long open bar.

Even if you can't attend, you can still help out NYC's homeless gay kids: "By donating toward contestants, you can help choose who's the fairest one of all before the pageant even begins. Each dollar you contribute is a vote for your favorite contestant and goes towards helping the Ali Forney Center provide much needed shelter for homeless gay youth." My review of last year's Broadway Beauty Pageant is here. Fun!

Catholic Church Defunds Portland Homeless Charity Over Marriage Support

Another homeless charity is suffering the wrath of the Catholic Church for having the audacity to support equal rights for gays. This time it's in Portland, Maine.

A social service agency's support for same-sex marriage has cost it local and national funding from the Catholic Church's anti-poverty program. Preble Street's Homeless Voices for Justice program has lost $17,400 this year and will lose $33,000 that it expected for its next fiscal year. Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and the Washington-based Catholic Campaign for Human Development say that Preble Street violated its grant agreement by supporting Maine's "No on 1" campaign last fall. No on 1 opposed a ballot proposal to overturn the new state law legalizing gay marriage. Voters approved Question 1 on Nov. 3. Homeless Voices for Justice, a statewide advocacy group, is led by people who have been homeless. It works on issues that affect the homeless, such as supporting affordable housing and preventing violence against the homeless. Portland-based Preble Street, which runs a dozen programs to provide housing and other services for the poor and the homeless, provides staff support for Homeless Voices for Justice.

The cut was ordered by Bishop Richard Malone, whom you may remember for his infamous "second collection" of Mass offerings which were donated to the successful effort to repeal marriage equality in Maine.

True Colors Homeless LGBT Youth Residence Breaks Ground In Harlem

"Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth living on the streets and in foster care need our support more than ever. In New York City, the True Colors Residence is going to play a big role in providing these young people with the leg up and encouragement they need. I am thrilled that construction has already begun and I am honored to be a part of this important project." - Cyndi Lauper, commenting on the groundbreaking for the True Colors Residence for homeless LGBT youth in Harlem.

True Colors Residence will be New York City's first permanent housing facility with support services for 18-24 year old lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth with a history of homelessness. The undertaking was conceived by West End Executive Director Colleen Jackson, and by musical artist Cyndi Lauper and Ms. Lauper's manager Lisa Barbaris. The project entails the construction of a new, energy-efficient multifamily building containing 30 studio apartments, indoor and outdoor community space for residents, and a computer room and resource library. The building is named in honor of Cyndi's Lauper's support for the project and for West End, and references Ms. Lauper's hit song, "True Colors."

Funding for this large project comes from a complex group of borough, city, state, federal and private sources. True Colors Residence is scheduled to open in winter 2011.

Guest Post - Carl Siciliano

I get very angry at the hell so many LGBT teens are put through.

A few months ago a man named Anthony reached out to me to tell me a terrible story. He knew of a teen in upstate New York whose family learned he was gay and threw him out. A few days later the boy tried to return home, only to be told that if he returned again his father would kill him and bury him in the backyard. The boy tried to survive in nearby towns eating out of garbage cans and sleeping in parking lots. Anthony was the last person who saw the boy alive; Anthony was the train conductor who slammed on the brakes when the boy jumped in front of his train, ending his life.

When I first began to work with homeless teens in the mid 1990's I met a gay boy who had nowhere to stay. We sent him to what at that time was the one youth shelter in NYC, Covenant House, a large Roman Catholic Shelter. The first night he stayed there he was placed in a dorm with about 15 other kids. After he fell asleep, the other kids in the dorm gathered around him and urinated on him to show their hatred and unwillingness to share their dorm with a gay person. I cannot tell you how many similar stories I have heard over the years, of LGBT kids being gay-bashed, humiliated and abused at Covenant House. Back in the 90's most LGBT kids felt safer sleeping on the streets.

I feel strongly that we, the LGBT Community, who call on each other to come out of the closet, have to be there to protect teens who come out only to be rejected and abandoned. I am very proud of the work that the Ali Forney Center now does to protect these kids and help them heal the trauma they've been put through, and help them rebuild their lives. We offer housing, food, clothing, medical care, mental health treatment, and vocational and educational assistance. We, and the many people who support us and volunteer for us become an extended family, who give these kids the love and support their own families cannot give.

Last month was big for us; we opened a new shelter, increasing the number of youths we are able to house to 58 per night. It actually seems like a miracle when you consider that we were able to expand even though we lost $450K this year in government support. If we have a saint in heaven watching over us, it must be Bea Arthur, who left us $300K in her estate! I was actually frightened we would be forced by the funding cuts to shut down before Bea came to our rescue.

The biggest miracle for me though is seeing our kids thrive. Right now 16 of the kids staying with us are attending college, and over 20 have found jobs. One young woman who has been living with us for two years and is ready to move out on her own is fielding offers to work in the research departments of Stanford and Brown Universities! Over a thousand kids have stayed with us since we opened in 2002, and a great many are now living proudly on their own.

In this hard time of government cutbacks, we need the support of the community more than ever before. Many of you have been very kind to us. I am appealing once more for your generosity and support . (Thanks to all of you who voted for us in the LiquidNet Challenge. We were given a $10K check today!). Together we can help these kids overcome the hatred and cruelty they have endured. Together we can show these kids that they are as worthy as anyone else of being loved.

For more information on making a donation please visit our site: Ali Forney Center.

I hope that all of you have a joyful and peaceful holiday season.

Carl Siciliano
Executive Director
Ali Forney Center

PS: When Joe invited me to write this appeal, he also asked that I send a "woofish" picture. When Joe asks me to do something I say "SIR! Yes Sir!"

Michigan Churches End Homeless Services Over LGBT Rights

Three Kalamazoo churches will stop providing meals to the homeless because of the city's recent approval of a law protecting gays from discrimination.

Martha’s Table, through which eight churches have provided Sunday afternoon worship and meals for the needy at First Congregational Church, is losing three of the churches because of the issue of homosexuality, even though the ecumenical ministry takes no position on it, said the Rev. Matt Laney, pastor of First Congregational. “The founding principle of Martha’s Table was that churches would come together and put aside their differences in light of what unites us, which is our common commitment to serve Christ and others,” Laney said. “But now this difference has risen above our common commitment to serving Christ.” Laney said representatives of all three churches have been “very clear” that they don’t want to be “guilty by association” with First Congregational and its inclusiveness of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, said Laney, who publicly supported an ordinance passed by Kalamazoo voters in November that protects GLBT people from discrimination in housing, jobs and accommodations.

The man who created Martha's Table and whose restaurant provides most of the meals refused to comment on his withdrawal, saying, "“I would just as soon let it go. We are just pulling out. That’s all. We would just as soon take a position of silence.”

(Via - Box Turtle Bulletin)

Monday: A Very MARY Holiday

Broadway Speaks OUT's holiday concert to benefit the Ali Forney Center is tomorrow (Monday). Get tickets here.

Guest Post - Carl Siciliano

This has been a brutal year for LGBT youth. From the vicious murder last week of Jorge Mercado, to the deadly attack on the LGBT Youth Center in Tel Aviv, to the two thirteen year old boys who committed suicide in the spring because of anti-gay bullying in their schools, we see that youth are increasingly under attack by the forces of homophobia.

At the Ali Forney Center we see the cruel effects of homophobia on our youth as hundreds of kids who have been rejected and cast out by homophobic parents flock to us for help. Last year we served over 1000 kids. By housing and protecting them, and giving them the support they need to rebuild their lives, we send out a clear message that the lives of LGBT youth do matter. We show that they are just as deserving of love as anyone else.

In this last year, many JoeMyGod readers have been very generous to AFC. I am deeply grateful for the support. One very easy way to help us is by casting an online vote for us here. AFC is one of 25 charities nominated by the employees of Liquid Net for an online competition. The ten charities that receive the most votes will receive awards from $10K to $25K. If you could take 30 seconds to cast a vote for us, I would be very appreciative.

Carl Siciliano
Executive Director
Ali Forney Center

NYC's Homeless Scam Busted

One of my first days on the job at my office on E.42nd Street, back in 2001, one of my co-workers saw me stuff a dollar into the jar of the "volunteer" for the United Homeless Organization that was outside our building every day, next door to Grand Central. "Hey, that's a scam," he confided. "Those guys rent the table from UHO for something like $25 a day. Anything else, they get to keep." Everyday we watched the hundreds of dollars pour into the guy's jug from sympathetic commuters. The same guy, every day. We could often hear his robotic chants from our 16th floor office. "Your spare change will feed somebody tonight. Help to feed the homeless." Today, finally, NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called the UHO out as a sham organization.

One of New York City's most visible homeless charities is a sham, according to the state's attorney general. Since the late 1980s, tourist-packed areas in midtown Manhattan have been peppered with large plastic jugs set up on card tables to collect money for a group called the United Homeless Organization. People working the tables routinely say the money goes to services like food pantries, shelters and drug treatment centers. In reality, almost all donations wind up being pocketed by the group's staff and founders, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a civil suit filed Monday. "UHO exploits the good intentions of people who thought that their charitable donations were helping to fund services for the homeless," Cuomo said in a written statement. "Instead, their donations go directly to UHO's principals and workers, who abused the organization's tax-exempt status to line their own pockets."

If so many people have known for years and years that this was a fraudulent organization, why was Cuomo's action so long in coming? I still see that same guy in front of Grand Central.