BY CHRIS JOHNSON

Homeless shelters that receive federal funds won’t be able to discriminate against LGBT youth if new legislation introduced in the House is signed into law. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), one of six openly gay members of the U.S. House, introduced the legislation, known as the Runaway & Homeless Youth Act, along with Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) on Thursday.

“Homelessness is one of the most pressing matters affecting LGBT youth,” Pocan said. “Young people in the LGBT community are disproportionately at-risk for homelessness, often as a result of the rejection, discrimination, or violence they face simply for being themselves.” The bill seeks to amend the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act — which was last authorized in 2008 and is up for reauthorization this year.

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Time Warner Cable announced it has selected the Ali Forney Center (AFC), the nation’s largest services and advocacy organization working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) runaway and homeless youth, to be the recipient of a Time Warner Cable Learning Lab. This grant provides a state-of-the-art technology center for the young people served by the non-profit organization.

Time Warner Cable will provide a $50,000 grant to outfit the Learning Lab with new computers, printers, computer software, tablets, and HD televisions. In addition, Time Warner Cable Business Class will provide complimentary high-speed Wideband Internet to power the Lab, as well as HD DVR and TV services.

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A center for homeless LGBT youth in New York has been destroyed by the rampages of Hurricane Sandy.

The Ali Forney Center, a drop-in facility for homeless youth located on West 22nd Street in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood, was flooded with nearly four feet of water from the nearby Hudson River. The water has since receded, but Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Center, told the Washington Blade that the damage remains, leaving the facility “decimated.”

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The Ruth Ellis Center is launching a major crowd-funding and awareness campaign, End the Chill: Where Homeless Youth Sleep this Winter, to bring aid this winter to Detroit’s homeless lesbian, gay, bi-attractional, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, many of whom live in horrifically unsafe and unsecured conditions. The funds will ensure that the Ruth Ellis Center’s Second Stories Drop-in Center is open additional days as a warming station for the youth.

“There are more than 800 homeless youth on the streets of Detroit daily, which comes as a surprise to many people because the youth work very hard to remain under the radar,” said Laura Hughes, Ruth Ellis Center executive director. “We are using our strong relationships and the trust we have built with these youth to gain exclusive access to the spaces in which they stay, shed light on the horrible conditions in which they live, and raise money to provide the youth with more access to safe space at the Ruth Ellis Center.”

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