It's no secret that pop icon Cyndi Lauper has been a huge ally for the LGBT community. Here is someone with some amazing talent as a singer, songwriter and musician who was hailed as the one who would have Madonna's status and the latter being the one-hit wonder back in the 80's (my how the tables have turned on that one), doesn't have the financial reach as someone like Madonna, but has been working to give back to the community that has supported her career for over three decades.
After serving as grand marshal at the gay pride parade in New York City this past Sunday, Lauper launched the Forty to None Project yesterday, which is a national program to educate the public and support homeless LGBT youth. Forty To None gets it's name from the disturbing number of LGBT homeless youth. With up to 1.6 million youth who are homeless each year, 40% identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Lauper wants that number to be "none".
Here's what Lauper had to say about her passion project:
Five years ago, on the Christopher Street Pier in New York City, my eyes were opened. I was doing a photo shoot for Interview magazine and thought it was important to include some gay and transgender youth to reflect my work with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. My goal was to send a message of inclusion and acceptance, but what I realized after talking to these kids was just how different my vision was from what they had experienced in their own lives.
The youth on the pier that day told me story after story of exclusion, of rejection and of pain. As a mother, I can’t ever imagine throwing my child away. I can’t imagine kicking a kid out of my house. I can’t imagine rejecting a person who is, literally, a part of me.
But for the kids of the pier, that rejection wasn’t something unimaginable. It was their reality. Anybody can end up on the street. Homelessness knows nothing of age or race or gender. It can happen to anybody. But when statistics show that as many as 40% of the nation’s homeless youth are gay or transgender, compared to 3-5% of the overall youth population, we have to acknowledge that we’re facing a crisis. The disparity suggests that gay and transgender youth stand a much higher chance of becoming homeless because of abuse, neglect and familial rejection due to sexual orientation or gender identity that drive them to the streets.The kids on the Christopher Street Pier that day, and the other gay and transgender youth living on the streets who make up the 40% have done nothing wrong, other than being born the way they were supposed to be. And because of who they are, these kids have been forced to leave their homes, subjected to abuse or worse.
We traveled the country, visiting shelters, drop-in centers, outreach programs and advocacy organizations. We talked to community leaders, service providers, government officials and the kids themselves. We held meetings in 10 cities, from Washington to New York to San Francisco to Minneapolis. We looked for the holes in the system, and we’ve developed a five-year plan to make significant changes happen.
In our first five years, Forty to None will work to drive down the number of gay and transgender youth on the streets through a campaign that includes: education and awareness to raise the visibility of these young people and the direct service providers who work with them; advocacy at the state and federal levels; strengthening the network of services, advocates, community leaders and others working on the issue; training service providers to be more inclusive and understanding of the issues specifically affecting these kids; and empowering homeless gay and transgender youth themselves with valuable resources and information.
Check out Cyndi's PSA below...
Hearing this breaks my heart everytime, because I never understand how someone can put their religious or moralistic beliefs before their love of a child who let's be frank did not ask to be born into this world. We do have a huge homeless youth problem in this country (especially in new York City), and with that asshole mayor of mine Mike Bloomberg cutting funding for the LGBT youth non-profit programs, shit's about to get worse. I just wish the politicians of NYC would stop rubbing the backs of their rich friends and help those in need. Or maybe we don't need these political lazy asses to do a job we as gay folks need to step in and do ourselves. The younger generation needs mentors, and I hear so many older gays always turn their nose at the younger ones because of how reckless they act (especially on the pier at night). As I have said before when you know better you do better and we have to lead by example. WE as a community have a responsibility to our next generation of gays, and we have to stand up and do our part as well. I applaud Cyndi for what she is doing and unlike so many other pop stars who use the gay community to make their millions, Cyndi is the real deal.
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