Not only are LGBT youth more likely than their straight counterparts to be bullied by peers and ostracized by their communities, but they’re also at higher risk to fall prey to child sex trafficking, reports The Administration for Children and Families. LGBT youth make up 40% of the runaway and homeless youth population, and once on the streets, they face high chances of becoming victims of human trafficking.
“More people are enslaved today than at any point in human history, and LGBTQ youth are being trapped in sexual slavery at alarming levels,” states the ACF on its blog. “Once trafficked, these children face beatings, mutilations, brandings, rapes and a host of other crimes that no child should ever live through.”
To further illustrate the problem the ACF provided a story of a teenage boy from Chicago, who has survived the ordeal:
“When Sam’s father found out that he was gay, he threw him out of the house. Having nowhere else to turn, Sam loaded up his car to leave for Chicago. When he arrived in Boy’s Town, an LGBT community in Chicago, his first pimp snuck up behind him, put a rag laced with sedatives over his mouth to knock him out, and dragged him off the street. When Sam woke up, his pimp sadistically abused him, forced him to ingest cocaine, and trafficked Sam into prostitution in Chicago and Michigan. His pimp made $400 to $500 a day from Sam’s commercial sexual exploitation. Approximately a week after his abduction, Sam escaped his first pimp, but his slavery continued. When Sam needed a way to support himself, he responded to an ad for an escort service in a Gay Chicago Magazine, where his victimization continued by a second pimp.”
The ACF provides services for all youths through its Runaway and Homeless Youth Program, ensuring that LGBT victims of commercial sexual exploitation receive the services necessary to recover.
oilburner
Four hundred to five hundred dollars a day that’s not bad for A young person to make . This guy should consider himself lucky if he’s good looking enough to get work as an escort in a few yrs he can make a career in porn lucky him not everyone has such great opportunities
Jeton Ademaj
@oilburner: he didn’t make that money, his PIMP did. there must be some toxic household cleaner nearby that you could ingest…go find it. bottom’s up!
HernanMinogue
Wow this was sad and scary to read as I’m from Chicago and I always hang out at Boystown.
I always see black young teens and black transexuals working the streett, but they seem to enjoy it.
jeff4justice
And what are LGBT mega groups doing to help?
It’s a damn shame there are so few gay mentors and far too many sugar-daddy exploiter types.
balehead
The LGBT groups are raising money to take longer better vacations…..betraying your own as usual…
dwndckd
@HernanMinogue, “Wow this was sad and scary to read as I’m from Chicago and I always hang out at Boystown…I always see black young teens and black transexuals working the streett, but they seem to enjoy it.” Really, they seem to enjoy it- interesting??????
Spike
@oilburner: Yea, and then get Queerty to post videos of him singing in cars with his other pron star actors/directors to Adam Lambert songs, who wouldn’t what life, right???
Charlie in Charge
@oilburner: He was KIDNAPPED and his KIDNAPPER made $400 to $500 a day by exploiting him. And you think he should feel grateful? What’s wrong with you?
martymartymarty
The article in the link is from a year ago. It is also especially poorly written. Not to minimize Sam’s story in any way, but this article perpetuates the myth that homosexuals are predators – this is a conservative hype piece. Their key point as to the exploitation of gay youth is that “older people” are doing it, this is presented as if somehow this is NOT the case with the exploitation of straight youth by straight people when it obviously is.