• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Grammy Awards: Men’s fashion steals the red carpet in stereotype-shattering style
  • New York police abused demonstrators at George Floyd protest, report finds
  • Trevor Noah pokes fun at Prince Harry’s frostbitten penis

Then&Now: Taking Care of Our Youth

Site Sponsor December 12, 2008

Sponsored Post: 

"I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is notworth living. And you… And you… And you… Gotta give em hope."

–Harvey Milk

If you haven’t seen it, be sure to watch the amazing CauseCast video text/installation/video piece built around this Milk speech. It’s worth a second viewing.  Milk was beyond aware of how tough it was for kids growing up gay. He was seemingly driven by the clear ambition to make a better world for our young people. And, as he acknowledges, we need to provide a place for them in the present as well as offer hope for the future. 

Sadly this is not one of those things that’s gone away over the past 30 years…

In thelate ’70s, as now, Los Angeles was the number one destination for young menwhose parents had kicked them out of their homes because they were gay.  They came from all over the country, many ofthem mysteriously bearing maps leading them to …

[More, AFTER THE JUMP…]Laglc_logo_blue_convertedsmall

Griffith_youthcenterIn the late ’70s, as now, Los Angeles was the number one destination for young men whose parents had kicked them out of their homes because they were gay.  They came from all over the country, many of them mysteriously bearing maps leading them to a now long-gone hotdog stand on Santa Monica Blvd. called Danny’s Dogs, known as a hangout for gay street kids. It was like an “underground railroad,” except that the freedom it led them to was homelessness and life on the streets.

GriffithyouthcenterJust around the corner on Highland Ave. in Hollywood, housed in a converted motel, was the L.A. Gay Community Center (as it was known then). Homeless youth, drawn by a sign that actually had the word “gay” in it, began gathering in the Center’s parking lot. It was a place of no judgment where they could safely hang out. Unfortunately, at that time the Center had no resources that could change their life circumstances, save for some volunteer-led rap groups.

Today, young LGBT people who have been rejected by their families and communities still come to Hollywood from around the country and find their way to that same stretch of Santa Monica Blvd. Many of them are former foster youth who, in addition to having been forced out of their homes because of their sexual orientation/gender identity, have been physically and mentally abused, are using or abusing drugs, and have had to resort to “survival sex” for food and shelter.

Unlike the Center of the ’70s, today’s L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center offers a wide-range of services for homeless LGBT youth, including a 24-bed transitional living program and emergency beds for those in immediate crisis.  At our youth center, open 7 days/week, they get such basics as three meals a day, clothing and showers, as well as education and job-preparation programs to help them transition from life on the streets to housing and self-sufficiency.

Despite advances made by the LGBT community over the past three decades, LGBT youth and those who are questioning their sexual orientation/gender identity are still at risk of discrimination/violence in schools and rejection by their family, leading many to the streets where they must struggle for survival. 

Until our youth are as accepted as all other young people, the Center will be here to fight discrimination, advocate for equality, and provide the support and care that homeless youth need to make it on their own.

Topics: Education, Living | Loving, towleroad More Posts About: Sponsored Post

Related Posts
  • From Key West Virgin to Conch Convert: The Ultimate Gay Travel Guide for Key West
  • Get to Know the Radical Spirit of Gay Key West That Keeps Calling LGBTQ+ Travelers
  • 10 Reasons Key West’s Clothing-Optional Culture Is the Perfect Place for LGBTQ Travelers to Let It All Hang Out
  • New York police abused demonstrators at George Floyd protest, report finds

    New York police abused demonstrators at George Floyd protest, report finds

    Published by Reuters By Tyler Clifford NEW YORK (Reuters) – An independent New York City police review board has recommended that the department punish dozens of officers for excessive use of force and other alleged misconduct …Read More »
  • Trevor Noah pokes fun at Prince Harry’s frostbitten penis

    Trevor Noah pokes fun at Prince Harry’s frostbitten penis

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Trevor Noah poked fun at Prince Harry’s frostbitten penis during the Grammy Awards on Sunday (05.02.23). The 38-year-old star couldn’t resist mocking the prince’s intimate revelation about his icy agony – …Read More »
  • Key winners at music industry’s 2023 Grammy Awards

    Key winners at music industry’s 2023 Grammy Awards

    Published by Reuters By Danielle Broadway LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The biggest names in the music industry gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday for the 65th annual Grammy Awards ceremony. Here is a list of winners …Read More »
  • Sam Smith and Kim Petras scoop Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy

    Sam Smith and Kim Petras scoop Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Kim Petras paid tribute to the “transgender legends” who “kicked the doors open” for her as she picked up her first Grammy Award on Sunday (05.02.23). The 30-year-old singer and her …Read More »
Previous Post: « American Idol Contestant Makes Big Transition
Next Post: Retired Policeman Arrested for 13 Gay Killings in Brazil »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Study Finds Anti-Social Straight Male Sex Issues May Pose Bigger Crisis Threats to Society

    Study Finds Anti-Social Straight Male Sex Issues May Pose Bigger Crisis Threats to Society

  • Ted Cruz claims Buttigieg running against Biden because his ‘cadence’ is ‘mimicking Barack Obama’

    Ted Cruz claims Buttigieg running against Biden because his ‘cadence’ is ‘mimicking Barack Obama’

  • ‘Invasion of privacy’: Some Florida athletes leery of being made to reveal menstrual cycles

    ‘Invasion of privacy’: Some Florida athletes leery of being made to reveal menstrual cycles

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

    Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

  • James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

    James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

  • Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

    Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

RSS Partner Links

  • Liam Hemsworth & Girlfriend Gabriella Brooks Land in Australia as Miley Cyrus Tops the Charts a Third Week with 'Flowers'
  • Sam Smith basks in Grammy win!
  • OMG, why not wear it? Cub Sport’s upcycled denim & other Grammy lewks we loved
  • Russian Man Punches Camel In Face, Camel Tramples Man To Death
  • Watch how the brilliant Bowen Yang opened SNL as the Chinese balloon shot down by US of coast of South Carolina
  • Open Post: Hosted By The Internet’s Thoughts On Shania Twain’s Red-Wigged Grammy Looks
  • Viola Davis Won A Grammy And Became An EGOT Winner

Most Recent

  • Grammy Awards: Men’s fashion steals the red carpet in stereotype-shattering style

    Grammy Awards: Men’s fashion steals the red carpet in stereotype-shattering style

  • New York police abused demonstrators at George Floyd protest, report finds

    New York police abused demonstrators at George Floyd protest, report finds

  • Trevor Noah pokes fun at Prince Harry’s frostbitten penis

    Trevor Noah pokes fun at Prince Harry’s frostbitten penis

  • Key winners at music industry’s 2023 Grammy Awards

    Key winners at music industry’s 2023 Grammy Awards

  • Sam Smith and Kim Petras scoop Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy

    Sam Smith and Kim Petras scoop Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy

  • Beyonce makes history at Grammys with 32 wins

    Beyonce makes history at Grammys with 32 wins

  • Hong Kong court makes landmark ruling protecting transgender rights

    Hong Kong court makes landmark ruling protecting transgender rights

  • Beyonce breaks all-time Grammy wins record, Harry Styles claims album prize

    Beyonce breaks all-time Grammy wins record, Harry Styles claims album prize

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×