It’s an incredibly sad but true fact that approximately 3,600 LGBT youth spend each night on the scary streets of Los Angeles. Many turn to crystal meth to stay awake to protect themselves and some have anonymous sex with strangers in exchange for meals and money to stay alive. After touring the L.A Gay & Lesbian Center, which for years has provided essential service to abandoned queer kids, filmmaker Trent Kendrick and producer Michael Fossat developed Any Given Tuesday, a short film to create additional awareness and promote support for the Center. Celebs such as Elton John and David Furnish, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, Lisa Ling and others quickly offered their support for the project.
Out director Roland Emmerich, one of the Center’s largest donors, was so impressed by Any Given Tuesday that he offered to host its official premiere at an exclusive star-studded benefit dinner October 19, along with David Geffen, Dustin Lance Black, Bryan Lourd, Jane Lynch, Ryan Murphy and Amy Pascal.
Mikah
Very impactful.
yaoming
Was that Jamie Foxx as Barak Obama? What was with the suit and flag pin?
iggy azalea
Yikes. More sap than a pine tree.
Rock Star
I can’t believe people dis this attempt for understanding and support for LGBT homeless youth. These people I guess have never found themselves in a hopeless situation with nowhere to turn, but to the streets and what that does to someone. I hope they are comfortable with their smugness and their lack of compassion for those unfortunate enough to not be loved.
Wilberforce
A film is going to help. Right.
Better that than actually doing anything, like opening shelters and soup kitchens and job training groups.
If this community were any more shallow and self involved, it would win the prize on Survivor.
Mr. E. Jones
@Wilberforce:
Agreed. Instead of highlighting the young people in the shelter, they make a fictional “film” with actors. Then spotlight rich, sheltered people as if they’re martyrs.
Considering James Woods supports the anti-gay Republican party, and Elton John thinks marriage equality isn’t important, I have no idea what those gasbags are doing in this video.
Are the filmmakers even gay?
jeff4justice
“3,600 LGBT youth spend each night on the scary streets of Los Angeles” How can this be in a nation where we have so many so-called social safety net programs, so many faith communities doing outreach, so many rich celebs with “charities,” and so many nonprofits?
If anarchy is Somalia then what the hell kind of civilization is a supposedly wealthy, progressive city like L.A. with all of it’s big fancy government buildings where nearby streets are lined with homeless people?
This is why the waste of over-duplication of LGBT groups pisses me off. There are too many LGBT groups doing the same thing (YouTube search: Too Many Gay/LGBTI Groups Doing Same Thing?) which creates an enormous waste of resources reinventing the wheel.
What’s more, the failure of the LGBT mega groups to develop a nationwide structure (as outlined at http://getblissgroup.wix.com/getbliss) creates a huge disparity of what health and support resources are available to LGBTs in small town, rural, and suburb LGBT areas. This seems to result in LGBT youth flocking to big cities like L.A. or S.F. thinking it will be some magical rainbow place for them to seek refuge. And while it’s obvious there are more resources for them in the big city areas, there are apparently not so many resources that there’s not 3,600 LGBT youth on the streets each night. (YouTube search: Do Anti-LGBT Regions Shift Homeless Youth On Bigger Cites?)
Next, if you do an online search for “gay sugar daddy” you’ll find a ton of options compared to an online search of “LGBT youth mentorship” which seems to be mostly limited to big-city area LGBT centers. That’s appalling.
We now have half a nation in poverty and as reported by LGBT media such as Queerty, LGBTs aren’t as rich and upscale as once thought (see: The “B” In LGBT Apparently Stands For “Broke”). And yet LGBTs are bombarded with too many groups duplicating the same objectives. And yet somehow there’s enough money for 6-figure salary executive directors. (see: Blade Reveals Salaries For Heads Of Major LGBT/HIV Activism Orgs) I mean, if income disparity is wrong for the corporate world then shouldn’t it also be wrong in the so-called nonprofit world? As a person in poverty myself I see my $10 going to a drop in the buck for a 6-figure salary for an executive director more so than anything else. So I prefer to do my own no-middle person outreach out of my own pocket – however my outreach specializes in homeless people of all walks of life who are living out of their vehicles in hopes of getting them housed and preventing them from becoming street homeless. I focus on an area I have first-hand knowledge of. I also led the first multi-focused LGBT group in my hometown in a rural area of CA that was completely ignored by all the LGBT mega groups and was successful despite no funding.
My point is, anyone can do homeless outreach – you don’t have to put that off on anyone else.
However, there is a need for beds, shelters. In addition to the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s homeless youth outreach (online search: L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Youth Services), there’s also a group Los Angeles Youth Network which claims, “In a given year, LAYN has fulfilled nearly 11,000 bed nights, which says there were 11,000 less nights of coach surfing or sleeping outside. Through our 24 hour emergency shelters, group home, and transitional living programs, we make sure that not only are youth are provided safe sleeping quarters, but a place of care and refuge they can call home.” I think they meant couch surfing.
But what about LGBTs in small town, rural, suburb areas? What about LGBT homeless adults (see: S.F. tackles dual challenge – being homeless and gay). What about the fact that half of the US is now in poverty? What about LGBTs struggling to find work? The only LGBT-focused job assistance seems to accessible at big city LGBT Centers that offer limited internet access, job boards, occasional job fairs, and job search counselor assessments.
Obviously religiously-spawned homophobia is a huge focus of LGBT mega groups. But what about other root problems such as continuing to support the Democrat half the entirely failed 2-party system as well as the self-inflicted problem of too many LGBT groups with 6-figure-salary-earning executive directors wasting resources duplicating same objectives?
Saika
I want to know the name of the song that plays in the video and who sings it. I find it hauntingly beautiful and tragic.
jeff4justice
@Saika: There’s an app for that: Shazam or SoundHound
fny25
@Mr. E. Jones:
All of the filmmakers are part of the community and the film was made pro bono, everything for free, to help the center and also build a new center with 150 new beds which amongst it’s many other things will provide shelter, food, food kitchen and health services just as the current center does. In the fundraise last week 3 million were raised just to this cause and many pledges for yearly donations. The reason why using kids from the center itself was not a choice was to protect their privacy as well.