For the past few months I’ve been working on a secret project with with Jama Shelton, formerly homeless queer youth and the Project Director at Forty To None and I have been working on a new project. Since the release of Kicked Out, one of the things that has been the most powerful, and intense has been meeting so many people who share the experience of also being former runaways/kicked out/homeless LGBTQ youth. What has continually surprised me, was the number of us who are now leaders in the LGBTQ movement, but who aren’t always often out about our experiences. Last year, Jama and I met and began tossing around the idea of doing a project to bring together formerly homeless LGBTQ movement leaders. This is a project that is still evolving – but the first installment:
For the month of June, to kickoff this conversation and honor pride, we partnered with The Advocate Magazine to spotlight the experiences of movement leaders who themselves are formerly homeless LGBTQ youth.
Week1: click here to read more of the conversation between Jama and myself that kicks off this series – laying the groundwork for our inspiration and our hope for the future of this project:
“What happens when those young people grow up? In some incredible cases, documented in this exclusive, month-long series, those formerly homeless young people go on to become leaders in the LGBT movement, pressing our society toward greater inclusion, acceptance, and equality.
Throughout Pride month, The Advocate will feature true stories of formerly homeless queer youth who have not only survived their experience but gone on to thrive, inspire, and educate the next generation of activists. These stories will bring awareness to the ongoing crisis facing LGBT youth and encourage openness among LGBT adults who experienced homelessness as young people. ”
Week 2: click here to read our interview with Morgan Keenan “I tell my story because queer young people who experience these types of situations don’t all live in big cities or find themselves in a big city through their experience…”
Week 3: click here to read our interview with Twiggy Garçon “Growing up in the South, many of us are taught to keep your business at home, at home. The thing is, what about when you have no home to keep your business? Or, a deeper notion: who loses out when we don’t share our “business”?”
Week 4: click here to read our interview with Shahera Hyatt “I hope I can inspire others to come out of all closets and be open about our experiences with poverty, housing instability, family rejection, whatever it may be — and know that our voices and experiences have value… ”