Entries from January 2006 ↓

Every 26 seconds, somewhere in America, a child runs away from home.

Every 47 seconds, a child is abused, very often for reasons stemming from their gender or sexual identity.

Every night in this country, a million children are sleeping on our streets. Here in New York City, estimates are between 8,000 and 30,000 homeless youth, with as many as 50 percent identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or questioning.

This specific subset of the homeless population has long been overlooked and ignored. Most homeless activists and government agencies focus on adults and families. But with an increasing number of young people acknowledging their sexual identity and coming out at a younger and younger age, not all of them come out in accepting or loving home environments. When they don’t, many find themselves put out of their homes simply for being who they are.

Unlike homeless adults and families, the circumstances leading to homelessness for LGBTQ youth often have less to do with being economically disadvantaged and more with being spiritually, emotionally and physically abused. That abuse can come from family members, schools, churches or entire communities. Unlike the homeless adult who loses his job and falls into economic despair, homeless gay youth lose important social support systems largely due to other’s homophobia and intolerance. When political leaders try to justify the passage of blatantly discriminatory legislation or prominent clergy openly preach bigotry from their pulpits, they contribute to a climate of hatred based on sexual difference that encourages some parents to fail at their basic responsibility–to practice unconditional love.

There is a glimmer of hope however. Around the country, gay and homeless activists, even enlightened clergy, are taking up the cause of these young people.

In San Francisco, a survey was conducted recently to better understand the conditions under which homeless LGBTQ youth were living in that city and in what ways they faced economic hardship. The objective is to use the data to better inform rehabilitative measures such as counseling, job training and education.

In Cleveland, gay and lesbian activists aided by county government, will attempt to count the LGBTQ homeless population, in order to learn how extensive the problem is. Current estimates suggest 4,000 homeless people on any given day, but how many are gay youth is unknown.

Here in New York, a network of churches, including Metropolitan Community Church and The Riverside Church, have banded together with a social service provider to arrange emergency overnight shelter specifically for LGBTQ youth. They formed this coalition when gay and lesbian parishioners learned about the problem and challenged the religious community to do something about it. [In my professional capacity with a nonprofit agency, I assisted this group in the development of their volunteer training manual.]

Here the typical homeless gay youth is Black or Latino, about 17 years old. Yet with the astounding numbers on the streets as mentioned above, there were prior to this effort only 6 (yes, 6!) beds in the entire City of New York specifically earmarked as shelter space for gay kids.

These are just accounts from three cities. The problem exists all across the country, probably in your city as well. It is no doubt just the tip of a very large iceberg. Until such time as we can correct the wrong-headed thinking of uncaring, narrow-minded adults who willfully disown their own children, something must be done to remedy the current plight of their now homeless children.

When I hear people like Pat Robertson railing against homosexuality and suggesting we need to “protect the children”, I often wonder to whom he is referring. Which children need protecting most? Homosexuality isn’t the problem. Homophobia is and the actions of people like him are having dire consequences for our children.

Fittingly, on this day where in the United States we mark the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, historic changes occurred in world politics. In what could be considered civil rights achievements in their own right, the nations of Liberia, in west Africa and Chile in South America, both elected new presidents and both are women.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in today as the first female head of state on the African continent, and in a nation that has seen 14 years of civil strife, has made a pledge to maintain peace.

Liberia was established in 1847 by freed American slaves. First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice were among the world dignataries attending the inauguration, who also included South African president Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo.

On Sunday, Chileans went to the polls and elected Michelle Bachelet their new president. The 54-year-old mother of three was once a political prisoner, jailed and tortured by Chile’s former military junta. She is now the country’s first female president and only the third in Latin America. Her politics are center-left and she wants to work on social justice and economic issues.

Meanwhile, here at home, domestic eavesdropping authorized by the Bush Administration against American citizens without proper warrants, drew fire from former Vice President Al Gore during a speech in Washington. Gore called on the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor and for Congress to conduct comprehensive hearings into the matter.

I admire and respect Tony Dungy, but there is a legitimate reason to question his coaching ability at playoff time. The Colts were not ready for Sunday’s game against the Steelers. They had the best record in the NFL this year and a week off to prepare for this past weekend’s Divisional Playoffs and were just not ready. They were flat on offense, lacking intensity on defense and got their heads handed to them.

Peyton Manning too will continue to wear the goat horns. “Can’t win the big one” has followed him since his college days and will hang around his neck until he gets off the snide and wins a Super Bowl. His post-game blaming of his offensive line was unprofessional too. When they lost in Week 14 to San Diego, breaking a 13-0 run, every other team studied those game films and figured out that the Colts can’t handle defensive pressure up front, so that’s exactly what Pittsburgh gave them. For all of his audiblizing at the line, Manning couldn’t pick up on their blitzes and neither could his offensive line.

I had long thought the Chicago Bears run this year was a bit overrated. I questioned their schedule and their offense and Sunday, my questions were answered. A team that boasted about their defensive abilities and had the audacity to question Carolina’s record and the abilities of Steve Smith, gave up 434 yards of total offense and got burned by Smith for 218 yards and two touchdowns, the first on just the second play of the game.

Carolina has shown no fear of any of their opponents thus far and brought their A-game to two consecutive road wins in New York and Chicago. There is an intensity to their game unmatched by any of the other teams in the playoffs. I’m not making my Super Bowl prediction just yet, but I’ll be interested to see how they do next week against Seattle.

Denver is showing similar signs of unpredictability. They can hurt you on offense and defense, as they did to New England Saturday, forcing turnovers and mistakes that were uncharacteristic for the Patriots. They’ll need to do that again next week against the Steelers, who have shown they can take a team out of their game plan as well.

Seattle is a team I didn’t get to see much of this year, except for their win over the Giants (in a game the G-men should have won). They showed they were more than Shaun Alexander on offense, in their win over the Redskins, but it was the Redskins they were beating up on Saturday. Washington again failed to get their offense on track, making Seattle’s defense look exceptional. I’m not sure if that will be enough against Carolina however.

I went 3-1 in this week’s predictions, 5-3 overall. I’ll make my Conference Championship round picks later in the week.

I just wanted to call your attention to some new links added to my lists of Fellow Travelers and Interesting Sites Along The Way, located on the right side of the page.

First, I’ve added three blogs that I’ve had my eye on for a little bit; people who have interesting things to say or an interesting way of saying it. Kenyan blogger Keguro writes at his site Gukira. Lee is a Philadelphia-based health educator and researcher who writes at Lee’s Space. Mathematics professor Ron hosts The Mad Professah Lectures, while The Unconquerable Soul is the latest incarnation of a site owned by a blogger here in the New York area. If you aren’t already familiar with these bloggers, pay them a visit.

Since this is an election year in many parts of the country, I’ve added the websites for some campaigns I’ll be following. Charlie King 2006 belongs to the campaign of Charlie King, candidate for New York State Attorney General. Cory Booker is once again trying to unseat Sharpe James as Mayor of Newark, NJ. Deval Patrick is running for Governor of the State of Massachusetts. His site is Deval Patrick for Governor.

Finally, dancer and choreographer Ronald K. Brown has updated the website for his Evidence Dance Company so I updated my link. And speaking of that company, they will be performing at The Joyce Theater in New York in early February. One of my favorite dance companies, I’ll try to check them out.

I went 2-2 predicting last weekend’s Wildcard matchups and I can’t see doing any worse for this week’s Divisional games. Four good games, but also some teams that I think will surprise people.

The Washington Redskins will not be one of them however. Despite gaining only 120 yards of total offense last week in their win over Tampa Bay, they will face the best team in the NFC, the 13-3 Seattle Seahawks, who are 8-0 this season at home. Seattle has the most potent offense and a stingy defense and even though the Redskins have been on a roll since week 11 of the regular season, the roll stops today.

New England (10-6) at Denver (13-3) could be the closest game. Denver can run and pass well on offense and has a defense that is tough against the run. The Patriots will need to get more out of their running game than they did against Jacksonville and Tom Brady will need to be more accurate with his passes. Denver is at home, but I’m having a hard time picking against the defending Super Bowl Champion Patriots.

Sunday could be a surprise for Indianapolis. The league’s best team limped into the post season and didn’t look strong in their last three games. They’ve also had a week off. Pittsburgh beat up on Cincinnati and may be stepping up their game at the right time.

Finally, I know everyone is in love with the Bears and their vaunted defense, but Carolina is another one of those teams that seems unimpressed by other team’s reputations. Chicago’s offense is the big question mark.

My picks are in bold.

Saturday, Jan. 14

Washington at Seattle
4:30 pm
FOX

New England at Denver
8:00 pm
CBS

Sunday, Jan. 15

Pittsburgh at Indianapolis
1:00 pm
CBS

Carolina at Chicago
4:30 pm
FOX