Perspectives of Advocacy: A Megaphone for the LGBTQA Community Jana Gabrielle Baburek Dr. Donna A.

Dragon, Instructor Movement, Dance, and Meaning in Pluralistic America DANC 4001 UNC Charlotte Dance Department 25 November 2013

Preface LGBTQA homelessness is an issue of national scope in the United States. For individuals of all demographics, homelessness is an issue; however, for this community homelessness is of a unique concern. As more individuals are finding the courage to come out and declare their a-typical sexuality, they often find themselves rejected from their family home- especially those who belong to the teen and young adult groups. In Charlotte, NC, there appear to be no homeless shelters that work with the LGBTQA community, and especially for underage youths who are kicked out. As a heterosexual ally, I have many friends who are open about their a-typical sexuality, and the heavily debated issue of LGBTQA rights is a platform I have been passionate about for many years. In addition to this, I have a dear friend who is currently experiencing homelessness due to the fact that she openly came out to her parents and was shunned from her family. It is apparent to me that the LGBTQA community needs support for the lesser known issues that often are de-emphasized on media forms and political campaigns. In terms of understanding pluralism, this issue entails aspects of modern society that seem backwards in terms of human rights, even though the U.S. is considered relatively progressive. How the voices of religion, politics, and social grassroots groups are heard in relation to this issue are especially critical to the scope of this research. As such, how do we prevent or remedy the estrangement of social support in the LGBTQA community? This research will probe this question by also asking further into the issue. For instance, why are individuals of the LGBTQA community ending up homeless due to family estrangement? Also, why do shelters not assist the LGBTQA community? In this annotated bibliography, an assortment of sources including: video, published media, scholarly works, personal communications, and a personal reflection journal are under

discussion. The media and scholarly works were discovered in Google Scholar, having searched with key terms gay, homelessness, and adolescents. The video was discovered by searching through the media database YouTube with the keywords gay and poetry. TimeOut Youth was discovered through one of our group members, who knew of the organization through networking. Contact information for ONeal was researched on the TimeOut Youth website. Finally, the journal used in this annotated bibliography was my own work, so I simply had to pull from my files to obtain the information. Each source contributed to the depth and richness of this research, and added validity and complexity to the pluralism of LGBTQA homelessness. The first, my personal journal, is reflecting my individual values and starting point during my journey through this class and this project. The next source, a news article from the New York Times, demonstrated the current state of legislation in place to (or not to) protect homeless LGBTQA youths. The third source, a study involving homeless LGBTQA adolescents and their heterosexual counterparts, describes the devastation that can amass from an issue that is 100 percent preventable. Henceforth, the video of a poet describing their perspective on what it means to be gay, describes an individual narrative from a person who claims to belong to this LGBTQA community. The final source includes a personal interview and tour of a local LGBTQA community center and emergency housing organization called TimeOut Youth. The tour was provided by ONeal, a director at this organization, and their communication to myself, as well as my group provided astoundingly real and proximal information regarding the local status of LGBTQA rights. While these sources are relatively expansive and diverse, there have been some gaps in this research project. There is little to no discussion about mandating parents to provide safe environments for teens regarding their sexuality. Also, there is no legislation mandating that

shelters to provide specific programs or aid to vulnerable individuals of the LGBTQA community, particularly transsexual and transgendered youths. As such, myself and my other group members have little paperwork to back our perspectives, advocating for providing more aid to these youths for safety of mind, body, and spirit. For future research, consideration for the diversity of sexuality and gender should be more in-depth. Unfortunately, due to time constraints of research and presentation framework, my collaborative group could not delve into creating a greater sense of understanding just how diverse an individuals gender and sexuality can be. However, this research does provide a basis for discussing what policies can be put in place to fill the voids, gaps, and gashes in the current shelter system. Furthermore, our research provides information and appeals for the infrastructures and hidden issues that currently plague the nation, especially the state of North Carolina. While the goal of our group is to reach audience members who may feel ambiguous on the issue of LGBTQA homelessness, or gay rights issues in general. There is a great potential for other college students, especially those at UNC Charlotte, to come across this research and portfolio work. Thus, the opportunity for expansion exists for future leaders, parents, and professionals of this nation. This topic is highly personal for many of our group members, and so this research has been an emotional and psychological growth experience, as well as academic. As our community is relatively silent in terms of receiving media attention, funds, or advocacy backing from larger gay rights institutions, this research may spread a whisper out to break the silence. It is important for the state of North Carolina, and the greater region thereof, to recognize that only one institutional system is in place to protect youths of the homeless LGBTQA community. And, when a system like this is unique to one area in a small building with few resources, it can only be left to the imagination how many individuals are

being damaged for their individual deviation from societys sexual and gender expectations. When the literal pluralism of our nation is threatened with sexual violence, murder, suicide, and other forms of abuse and neglect to children, teens, and young adults, action is necessary.

Jana Baburek UNCC Dance Dept.

25 November, 2013 Movement, Dance, and Meaning in Pluralistic America DANC 4001

Baburek, J. (2013). Today, I begin change, Self Reflection Journal: My Personal Metamorphosis, 1(1), 1-2. Today, I begin change. I know this process of engaging my body will be challenging, as my mind often does all the talking. I think I know how to move, but maybe I dont really know anything- yet...My group is wonderful, everyone seems like they are going to be supportive and willing to tolerate my talkative nature. This issue of LGBTQA homelessness is scary to me. How could I have been so ignorant to not even KNOW about this issue until [a fellow group member] brought it up? I feel so incompetent. I used to always say I am an ally! but am I really if I dont even know about an issue this pervasive and horrid? It makes me sick and angry to know that I am clearly only scratching the surface of what it means to be a part of this marginalized group of the LGBTQA community- whatever this entails. How can I be supportive when I am ignorant? (Baburek, 2013, p. 1). This is an excerpt of a personal journal written after the groups first meeting. At this meeting, we established our topic of choice for this advocacy statement would be LGBTQA homelessness. I left that meeting feeling overwhelmed with new information, and a little discouraged that I had not known about this issue as a major problem across the nation. Later, in my journal I wrote about this to process what that meant in terms of my education, as well as my priorities for what is important in life. I was, however, pleased with my group at this first meeting. It was apparent almost right away that our diversity would surely serve us well in our collaboration. As such, I was not concerned that our group would fail to produce anything less than an incredible product and presentation. This initial journal entry was a starting point for a change that I incurred through the coming weeks of the project. This particular journal entry was vital for my cognition of my personal relativity to the issue of LGBTQA homelessness. I needed to write down my thoughts to dissect what I was feeling: anger, confusion, fear, and doubt. As such, this allowed me to move forward with my emotions on an academic level. I was able to apply such emotion to my work; from researching to performing, these emotional responses affected my decisions for what I read, wrote, and demonstrated in class. This issue relates directly to a friend of mine who was currently experiencing homelessness due to her sexuality at the time of this journal entry. The major theme of this particular entry is a personal lust for understanding. I was so eager to know, too eager. I had to reign in my anger to realize that now I gained awareness, and that there was no logic in looking at the time I spent without such knowledge. I learned a knew ideology for what homelessness means. It is not just someone who is down on their luck financially, it can also be a child or young adult who has had their body, heart, and spirit ripped from their socalled home, and dejected out onto the streets. After writing this journal entry, I was reminded of another one I wrote earlier in-class about the skills we need to be pluralistic. I remembered writing about understanding, communication, and inclusion. This connection allowed me to further realize that I had some tools to truly be able to help in this issue of LGBTQA homelessness. And, while no one has them all, I could do my best to utilize mine in relation to each of my group members to compile a strongly-suited advocacy team in a world that has quieted the issue of LGBTQA homelessness.

Jana Baburek UNCC Dance Dept.

25 November, 2013 Movement, Dance, and Meaning in Pluralistic America DANC 4001

Urbina, I. (2007, May 17). Gay youths find a place to call home in specialty shelters, The New York Times, Retrieved November 5, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/us/17homeless.html?ex=1337054400&en=6aba1ec 41b267773&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&_r=0. One girl said she started living on the streets after her mother beat her for dressing like a boy. Another said she ran away from home after her father pulled a gun on her for hanging around with so many tomboys. A third said she left home after a family acquaintance raped her because she was a lesbian and he wanted to straighten her out. (Urbina, 2007, May 17). This news article describes many personal narratives of LGBTQA youths who became homeless at some point in their short lives. This particular quote exemplifies just how dark coming out can be for all sexual minorities. Being kicked out for coming out is not always as simple as a parent or guardian cutting their teen or young adult off from financial or social support. These stories shed light onto how often this population of LGBTQA youths are abused until they choose to leave out of fear. This article successfully aimed big guns against the silent barrier of LGBTQA abuse, neglect, and homelessness by making these narratives go viral. At least the opportunity is there for people to find out more on this issue from a reliable source. A major concern foreshadowed by this article was that LGBTQA homelessness, especially cases caused by abuse, are not taken seriously by current legislation. None of the victims mentioned in the excerpt received justice for the sexual, verbal, and physical violence they were subjected to. This piece is also a few years old, yet not much has been altered in favor of these victims seeking reparations for horrid treatment. What does this say about our society? Hush little girl, it is not important if you were raped because you dont like boys anyways. In class, we often discuss issues of diminishing certain voices, and this article exemplifies a realworld case of turning the other cheek. It hurts me on a personal level, because I have a great number of friends in my social circle that identify with an a-typical sexuality. I can never understand what it is like to be discriminated for who I am attracted to, but I feel the pain of a friend who looks on helplessly as her peers come home crying after being called fag or dyke in school. This source was helpful for me to understand the complexity of this issue. In terms of how teens and young adults of a-typical sexualities end up homeless, my scope was broadened to see how a great number of youths are driven away more than directly thrown out. In a contextual sense, I figured that this may be so that parents can feel as though the decision to leave was the childs fault, and not their own. This type of rationalization, much like the concept of straightening someone out, seem like weak rationalizations to cover up hate, shame, and a lust to force a youth to conform to ones beliefs through abusing ones power over that youth. As such, this source has demonstrated a reliability for my research and personal reasoning through this advocacy collaboration. I have referred to this article during meetings to inspire my members with actual accounts of being thrown out. And, it was a great conversation-starter at our visit to TimeOut Youth: an organization that works to relieve the issue of LGBTQA homelessness across the region.

Jana Baburek UNCC Dance Dept.

25 November, 2013 Movement, Dance, and Meaning in Pluralistic America DANC 4001

Cochran, B.N., Stewart, A.J., Ginzler, J.A., Cauce, A.M. (2002). Challenges faced by homeless sexual minorities: Comparison of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender homeless adolescents with their heterosexual counterparts, American Journal of Public Health, 92(5), 773-777. Homeless youths are vulnerable to victimization, including robbery, rape, and assault. 1115 Also, homelessness often leads to initiation or escalation of substance use.1624 High rates of externalizing and internalizing problems, including psychosis, have been found among this population.2532 Moreover, high rates of risky sexual behavior, including prostitution and survival sex (sex in exchange for money, drugs, or shelter), place these young people at risk for victimization and sexually transmitted diseases. (Cochran & Colleagues, 2002, p. 773). This academic research revolved around asking individuals of the LGBTQA community, who were homeless at some point in their adolescence, to help decipher the most common effects and outcomes of being homeless and being a sexual minority. The researchers reported shocking results that most often, these individuals were subject to various forms of sexual abuse or exploitation. Finally, this research also revealed that homeless LGBTQ youths were more likely than other homeless individuals to suffer from a variety of mental health issues as well as physical co-morbidities. I was shocked by the statistics of this study, especially the numbers regarding mental health issues. This research suggests that there is more than a prejudice against the homeless LGBTQA population. Thus, the central theme of this research was to compare homeless LGBTQA youths to their heterosexual counterparts. However, can there really be a heterosexual counterpart? We often discussed the concept of individuality in class, and how no one should compare themselves to another individual or group. In terms of this research, is it really fair and valid to compare two homeless individuals who seem similar enough in other ways? Hence, this source has provided me a great deal of useful statistics and background information on the effects of homelessness. However, I do feel there are some validity issues with comparing individuals into dyads and generalizing that information as a resource. As a future researcher, I am heavily critical of others research works, as I can learn from such others good choices, as well as their mistakes. Regardless of this validity, it is curious to consider how the effects that turned up in this study could possibly be prevented with a plethora of shelters and programs that prevent youths from becoming homeless, or even from being kicked out in the first place. This text specifically relates to my visit with ONeal at TimeOut Youth (mentioned in a latter citation), and his discussion on how so few places have the funding or consideration for this particular community of homeless youths. As such, I have used this source to back many of ONeals principles with hard evidence of these traumatic, inhumane actions and outcomes involving LGBTQA youths who end up homeless due to their sexuality.

Jana Baburek UNCC Dance Dept.

25 November, 2013 Movement, Dance, and Meaning in Pluralistic America DANC 4001

Drakula, D. (2013). Straight Anti Gay Hate Poetry Slam [Video file], Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkzdrxInjkI. Dear straight people, Who do you think you are? Do you have to make it so obvious that I make you uncomfortable? Why do I make you uncomfortable? Dyou know that makes me uncomfortable? Now we both uncomfortable! Dear straight people, Youre the reason we stay in the closet. Youre the reason we even have a closet. I dont like closets; but, you made the living room an unshared space, and Im feelin like a guest in my own house... (Straight Anti Gay Hate Poetry Slam, 2013). This is an excerpt from a live poetry slam that I obtained from the popular media exchange site- YouTube. In this speech an individual that identifies with a non-mainstream sexuality and gender descries a rift between straight and gay people through their artistic and personal address to straight people. Over and over, the speaker addresses issues of discomfort, prejudice, and homophobia, as well as pop cultures fascination with gay celebrities. This poet artfully described the hardships of being a sexual minority or breaking the non-mainstream gender identities generally assigned to all of us at birth. The poem was not without some faults, however. As a straight person, it felt harsh to be generalized as an individual who is most likely to be anti-gay simply because I am straight. The poets visible confusion and anger reminded me of my own, and how I act when I get overly passionate about the topic of gay rights with people who use what I believe is false logic to rationalize their homophobic status on gay rights. After watching the video, and feeling anxiety about my tendencies, I realized a vital skill for being a true advocate, or effective advocate, was to be peacefully passionate. I needed to be myself and have my strong opinions, but also gentle in my conversations with those with differing views. Otherwise, I am behaving just as judgmentally and hatefully as an over-bearing minister who spits words of homosexual hate onto a congregation of future homophobes. Concepts and acceptance of homosexuality has flocculated with societies and the ages of human life. In ancient Greece and Rome, homosexuality was preferred among many groups of Sophist or (like-minded) men, who saw themselves as superior to women. As such, they desired to only affiliate with others of equal intelligence, valor, and physical beauty. Hence, this idea that homosexuality is an abomination, in general is but pure opinion. And, certainly, this opinion should never be used as rational for a parent abandoning a queer child physically or emotionally. Furthermore, the modern concept of straightness is confusing to me as a casual mind and an academic mind. I used to think that I was a straight person without too much

thought considering that I like men- in particular, my fianc. I suppose I can still use this term to identify my sexuality, but what about my gender identity? I am a female, but I use what textbooks would consider masculine speech patterns, feminine attire, and balanced mannerisms of both masculinity and femininity. I sometimes like to think of myself as a puzzled antagonist who pieces together clear and blurry aspects of the masculine and feminine world. I am an alien with a visa to both Venus and Mars- so to speak. This video was very impactful for not only my personal research on advocacy, but also for myself on my personal identity. I had never considered revising my molded perspective on my gender and sexuality until after I watched that video, listening ever-intently to the speakers verbiage, and observing every scrap of body language. I watched that video more than a dozen times, especially when I needed to feel where I was with my emotions, as well as my crusade to find and culture my true sexual identity.

Jana Baburek UNCC Dance Dept.

25 November, 2013 Movement, Dance, and Meaning in Pluralistic America DANC 4001

Atkinson, O. (2013, November 22). Personal Interview. What we need are more allies who are willing to speak with a megaphone for the voices of LGBTQA youths. TimeOut Youth is a safe place for LGBTQA youths to provide emergency shelter, housing, and counseling, and unfortunately the only place like it between New York and Atlanta. We are a youth-run facility, which means our youths are the ones in charge of making changes to our events, programs, and even what art goes up on the walls...its all about their voices. (Atkinson, 2013, November 22). These quotes are transcriptions from an interview of ONeal Atkinson, the director of youth programs at TimeOut Youth. TimeOut Youth is an organization that specifically works to provide emergency shelter, housing, and safety for youths of the LGBTQA community who are left homeless or feeling unsafe in their current living environment due to their sexuality, gender identity, and/or gender orientation. ONeal provided me, and my other group members collaborating on our advocacy project, with a guided tour and the opportunity to answer any questions about the program, personal stories and opinions, as well as to meet the other staff members. This first quote stimulated my thinking as a straight ally. Tying with a previous article discussing gender and sexuality, I was intrigued to consider whether or not I belonged to this minority community in some way. Even though my sexuality is typical, perhaps my gender expression is not. Furthermore, if I do not identify with this community as a member, how can I speak for them without tainting any perspective away from its authentic expression? ONeal answered this for me at our visit very clearly. ONeals second quote is heavy, but truthfully describing the state of our nation in terms of not just LGBTQA rights, but also for the rights of youths to have safety and protection when they are subject to any form of abuse, neglect, or discrimination. Finally, ONeal describes the nature of the organization as, literally, youthful. By engaging a more feminist approach to aiding these teens and young adults, they are living and breathing a philosophy that adults do not always know best, and that we are all our own experts, scientists, psychologists, researchers, and advocates. This stance is both beautiful and personal to me, as I believe in the power of knowing oneself, and ones capabilities. The visit to TimeOut Youth, and the discussion with ONeal were paramount to sealing my perspective on this advocacy project, as well as this class. I understand that I entered this environment to learn about me, and to funnel that information outward to the world- to learn my place and to know that I have the power to change that place at my leisure. I was both liberated and overwhelmed with information that I had newly gained. While I felt almost somewhat guilty that I did not know more about certain things ONeal discussed, I must realize that it is hard to be an expert on such an expansive topic that is constantly changing definitions and ideologies. In essence, ONeal was one of the most important sources of information and interaction that I have experienced for this project. I came to the conclusion that I would become a megaphone for the

homeless LGBTQ youth community; that my stance would resonate, as closely as possible, with the voices of this community.