20/20 reports on homeless gay youth
maggie knowles (maggie@vgn.com)
Tue, 07 Sep 1999 07:50:38 -0700
Subject: 20/20 reports on homeless gay youth
Date: Sun, 05 Sep 1999 20:29:22 -0500
From: Grassroots Media Network <gnn@grassrootsnews.org>
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
Newsclippings
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20/20 reports on homeless gay youth
Connie Chung reports on a disturbing new trend of homeless gay and
lesbian teenagers who say they have been thrown out of their homes by
their parents. >From the smallest towns of America's heartland, homeless
teenagers tell Ms. Chung they were disowned, left to fend for
themselves, because of their sexual orientation, on "20/20 Monday,"
Sept. 13 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC television network.
"Daniel" says his mother threw him out of his home when he told her he
was gay. He was 17 years old. Daniel says he was thrown out because he
is gay. "I was an embarrassment to my family," he tells Ms. Chung.
"I remember my mom saying . . . when I was ready to live my life right,
then I could come home again." With nowhere to turn in this small
Nebraska town of just 300 people, and with just $200 to his name, Daniel
boarded a bus to Los Angeles, where he has been homeless and struggling
ever since.
When Ginger was just 16 she told her mother she was a lesbian. "My mom
asked me to get my stuff and leave . . . I didn't know what to do or
where to go, 'cause it was a small town and there was nobody there to
help me." Ginger had tried to keep her sexual orientation a secret.
Now, in her tiny Iowa hometown where everyone knows each other, Ginger
is an outcast: "They didn't want anything to do with me because I am
gay."
Verna Eggleston is the executive director of Hetrick Martin Institute, a
New York City agency serving gay and lesbian youth. She believes kids
like Daniel and Ginger are part of a frightening trend: "We serve 1300
homeless kids a month. I think more kids are getting thrown out because
they're gay," she tells Ms. Chung.
Without a home, or family, these teenagers often pay devastating price
for their sexual orientation. Experts say about a third of all teenage
suicide attempts are by gay and lesbian kids. Often, these teens turn to
prostitution to survive: ". . . maybe it doesn't start with survival
sex. Maybe it comes with some adult saying I'll give you a bed. I'll
give you a hot meal. You can stay at my house. And then comes the
attack," Ms. Eggleston says.
Ms. Eggleston says most parents think they are doing the right thing by
throwing their child out. "They think they're parenting. They feel like
if you can't do it my way, my rules, then you're out the door and you
need to go somewhere else."
Ginger, now 20 years old, has been homeless since her mother threw her
out four years ago. Ms. Chung speaks with Ginger's mother and brings
both mother and daughter together to talk for the first time about
sexual orientation and whether they can heal their wounded relationship.
"It's hard to talk about your sexuality . . . it's hard," she tells her
daughter.
Many of these teenagers say they wish they were not gay and, if they had
a choice, they would be heterosexual. But it is not a choice, "Daniel"
tells Ms. Chung: ". . . if I had the choice, I wouldn't... choose
something that would make my life so difficult."
SOURCE: ABC News Media Relations: Jenny Parker (212) 456-1624
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