A few years ago, researchers from the University of Chicago conducted the first — and to date only — in-depth needs assessment of youth and young adults who were street homeless in Philadelphia.
In Voices of Youth Count Comprehensive Report: Youth Homelessness in America, they found that on any given evening, while most of us are sitting down for dinner, over 600 Philadelphians aged 14-24 are … not doing that. That’s because they are living on the street, living doubled up in the home of a friend, or in the home of a trick some other person aiming to take advantage of them. The survey found that one in three of those youth on the street in any given night is LGBTQ+.
I’ve been a “gay activist” in Philadelphia for close to 50 years. Throughout that time, the plight of young LGBTQ+ people, especially those who are poor or people of color, has been difficult for us to talk about. But when well-respected research organization tells us that each night at least 200 of our children are living on the streets — it’s time we start talking about it.
It’s time we call on City Hall, as well as the conscience of the LGBTQ+ community itself, to wake up and, urgently, step up to come to the rescue of our homeless young people.
It’s widely known that young LGBTQ+ people make up a significant proportion of the sex worker industry in Philadelphia, which to me means that many in our community are more open to taking advantage of our homeless young people than offering them help.
Philadelphia has largely failed to address the solvable problem of youth homelessness in the city. Among those young people abandoned by that failure is the one-in-three who are LGBTQ+.
I’m sick and tired that the City government, and our community as a whole, continues to ignore this crisis. Tonight, hundreds of our own teens and young adults will have no home to go to. Tonight! It’s time we do something about it.
David Fair is co-chair of the Philly Homes 4 Youth Coalition. To join the Coalition, email [email protected].