Thursday, May 8, 2008

Gay homeless youth keep up appearances

The teenage years can be particularly rocky for young adults who wrestle with the images they want to project to the world. But when a young person struggling with sexual orientation or transgender issues has no family or community support, an already fragile self-image often shatters.

More than 3,800 homeless young people lived in New York City last year, according to a survey conducted in 2007 by the Empire State Coalition, an advocacy group devoted to the rights of homeless youth, runaways and street youth. Sixty-two percent of that group identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or unsure.

The multimedia story Gay homeless youth keep up appearances by Jay Corcoran appears in the Image issue of nyc24.com.

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