D’Angelo Morrison nearly cried while watching a portion of the WHYY documentary, “The Pursuit: 50 Years in the Fight for LGBT Rights.”
A section called “Kids Today” that tracked LGBT youth homelessness in Philadelphia played Aug. 9 for attendees of the 67th-annual conference of the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies.
During a panel on the LGBTQ Youth Perspective, which followed the film, Morrison said he was kicked out of his house as a teen for being gay. He found a shelter, but could only stay at night. During the days, the shelter made everyone leave. Morrison engaged in survival sex and contracted HIV.
“I lost so much weight in the shelter,” he said.
When his mom finally saw him again, Morrison said, “I think that’s actually what changed her mind and made her come to the realization that I was her baby and she had to take care of me.”
Morrison now works on HIV/AIDS-prevention efforts at the Virginia Department of Health. When asked about what he would like for the future of LGBT youth, he said, “For me, I say hire us.”
Kel Kroehle, director of The Bryson Institute at The Attic Youth Center and moderator of the youth panel, said they’re often asked to bring young people to various conferences. The first thing they do is ask how many of the youth have volunteered their time to come to a conference. Most of the young people’s hands go up.
“We can’t just offer them pizza for telling us the most awful things that have happened in their lives,” Kroehle said. “Real money for real work is the thing.”
The Attic Youth on the panel — Hazel Edwards and Giana Graves — were paid as interns of the organization, Kroehle said. Phantazia Williams, a trainer with the Bryson Institute, also helped moderate the panel.
Jim Stowe, director of the Montgomery County (Md.) Office of Human Rights, said he had most looked forward to the youth panel.
“We’ve been admonished throughout this conference, and admonished is probably putting it lightly…that we’ve got to get young people into this conversation,” he said.
Earlier in the conference, David Johns, director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, told the human-rights leaders in no uncertain terms that they could not reform the educational system without asking students to offer solutions.
Stowe added not every region of the country could easily have open discussions with LGBT youth. He said it was a great opportunity to talk with LGBT young people in Philadelphia.
Jean Kelleher, director of the Office of Human Rights for Alexandria, Va., said her office had been advised to file all LGBT complaints as sex discrimination. While Kelleher said officials were delighted to find recourse for LGBT residents, she wondered how they could best push for legislative change.
Edwards, who worked with other Attic youth to write the transgender and gender-nonconforming policy that the School District of Philadelphia adopted in June, advised inclusive language choices. She said some measures stipulate people must consistently present in their chosen gender to qualify for protections, and that should be avoided.
Rue Landau, director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, expanded on that idea. She said the city included gender identity as a class protected from discrimination in 2002. But the policy is set to be updated in the fall.
“We actually wrote a binary back then,” Landau said. “There’s no space for fluidity in there.”
Rose Ramirez, senior civil-rights investigator from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said her organization plans to start a project on housing discrimination that’s specific to the LGBT community.
The youth on the panel advised focusing first on cities and states that do not have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination laws, before working to expand protections in other areas.