Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Top 11 Over the Rainbow Book List of LGBTQ books for adults
by the ALA
Top 10 Rainbow Project List of LGBTQ books for youth by the ALA
Foreword by Judy Shepard – Mother of Matthew Shepard
The streets steal stories. Crush the bodies of boys and girls with molars of jagged concrete; tear at tender hearts with incisors of glass shards.
I tried to remember who we wanted to be. Where we came from before our names shriveled under the labels of “at risk,” “street involved,” “runaways,” “throwaways,” “trash.”
The streets ingest lives. Bodies decompose in the acidic reality of survival. We were swallowed by systems incapable of digesting us.
I collected the stories of my friends, repeating their histories like a chant when they moved-on or disappeared…
In the United States 40% of homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ). The Kicked Out anthology edited by Sassafras Lowrey and published by Homofactus Press brought together the voices of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth and tells the forgotten stories of some of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens. Diverse contributors share stories of survival and abuse with poignant accounts of the sanctuary of community and the power of creating chosen families.
Advanced Praise for Kicked Out:
“Kicked Out shows us that sometimes we have to fight for who we are, who we want to be, who we love and who we are loved by. It is a testament to not just the need for gay rights, but the very basic and immediate need for gay acceptance.”
-Sabrina Chapadjiev (Live Through This: On Women Creativity and Self Destruction)
“Why would you abandon your child? Religion? Ethics? Right thing to do? Spouse wants you to? No one would blame you if the kid was born queer, right? These are the earnest stories of kids rejected by the people who made them, tossed into a world of suicidal tendencies, abusive cops, whoring, drugs, and deadly diseases to find hope, identity, and extended family. Their courage is proportional to the cowardice of their parents.”
-Lynn Breedlove ( of Tribe 8 and author of Godspeed)
“Kicked Out broke my heart and inspired me all at once. These are the untold stories of LGBT youth forced from their homes. They show the resilience, not just of individuals, but of our whole community. How do we rise so far above utter rejection and abuse and then so elegantly tell our stories? I would highly recommend this book for parents, teachers, social workers, LGBT youth and anyone who cares about them.”
– Kathy Belge (Lesbianlife.about.com, Lipstick & Dipstick)
“Kicked out. These brutal words summon images of rejection. But when applied to the home, they describe special cruelty. Robert Frost in one of his poems wrote that “home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” The stories in this book show how wrong Frost was. “They,” the parents who kick out LGBT sons and daughters from their homes, don’t want them there and don’t want to take them back in. But from the pain of rejection heroes are born. Read their stories, regret their pain, and celebrate their victories.”
– John R. Cepek (National President, Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG))
“Heart-breaking and compelling… this anthology is a call to action. The epidemic of homeless queer youth is a REAL problem today. The first step begins with each of us taking responsibility to act in every way we can.”
– Shane Windmeyer (Executive Director of Campus Pride)