In honor of Pride month, the Ali Forney Center (AFC) pushed for an historic agreement with the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to address homophobic and transphobic treatment of LGBTQIA+ youth.
Over the last year, AFC cited a sharp uptick in blatant attacks on queer youth by the state, ACS caseworkers, and foster care families, despite policies and training aimed at negating discriminatory treatment. This is especially concerning considering the widespread bans targeting queer youth in several states.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking 523 anti-LGBTQ bills across the nation, which range from banning gender-affirming care and books that center queer characters, to forced outing in schools. Just this week, a ban on gender-affirming treatment in Tennessee has officially made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Months earlier, the Supreme Court declined to make a decision in the battle over bathrooms for transgender students.
New York City, for all its progressive stances, still struggles to fully protect LGBTQIA+ youth, who are overrepresented in the foster care system. According to an ACS study from 2019, more than one out of three youths aged 13 to 20 in the city’s foster care system identify as queer—most of whom are Black or Latinx.
“I am currently in a shelter, and not too long ago I overheard a staff member talking about their trans client and they were referring to them not as who they are,” Dan Alvarez, a youth advocate from Youth Represent, says. “Overhearing that made me upset. It really did irk my spirit and didn’t sit right with me, especially because the person wasn’t there to defend themselves.”
Alvarez, 19, is a native Brooklynite and a trans male. He was at a rally held at Christopher Street pier on June 11 to advocate for LGBTQ youth in foster care and who have experienced homelessness. “I know what needs to change is making the uncomfortable comfortable.”
Because of their gender identity, queer youth are more likely to be placed in group homes as opposed to a family; less likely to see family members or have a community they felt they could rely on; were at higher risk for depression; and are more likely to be criticized for their gender presentation and behavior, according to the report. They were also more likely to run away or become homeless because of the compounded traumas of family rejection, experience criminalization by police, be exposed to sex work or drug use, or have suicidal ideation.
Ali Forney, a homeless gender-nonconforming person living on the streets of the city in the 1990s, exemplified these hardships that many queer youth continue to face today.
“Ali was rejected by his family at 13. Mother had [a] big issue, he was bullied by the community. He was put into the foster care system where they bounced him around for two years. They couldn’t place him. At the age of 16, after consistent homophobia and transphobia in foster care, he figured the streets were safer,” AFC Executive Director Alex Roque said.
Forney embraced other queer youth like him while homeless, demanding the police investigate a string of murders of his friends, fighting back against harassment, and preaching about preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections to the community. During this time, Forney resorted to “street work” and drug use to survive. Forney’s life, and subsequent murder in 1997 at the age of 22, inspired AFC’s founder Carl Siciliano to create a safe space and drop-in center for all homeless queer youth in 2002. The center started with six cots in a church basement and has grown to 13 sites in three boroughs, assisting over 2,200 Black and Brown youths each year with medical and mental health services as well as food and housing, said Roque.
About half of the kids that show up for care at the center are from New York City, but about 40% are unhoused or abused youth from other states, and 10% are international, added Roque.
“A couple of years ago, I met a young man who wrote notes to a boy in his class. His mother did laundry and found the notes, and she figured out what was happening. He was put in conversion therapy to cure being gay. After some months of this, he was going to end his life,” said Roque. “He was looking for bridges to jump off of and he confided in a friend that was what he was going to do. The friend found us on the internet. They showed up at our doors with nothing but garbage bags in his hands, flush with tears and grief. In many ways this lighthouse is a beacon. People feel connected to the work we do.”
Roque said that instances of misgendering, deadnaming, or harassment in foster care should be considered child abuse under ACS’s policies. The center is suggesting ACS provide staff with more updated and clear guidance on how to identify homophobia and transphobia in the home and during social welfare calls, hold workers and foster parents accountable, and provide mandatory training.
AFC’s proposed policy reforms were supported by Senator Jabari Brisport, the first openly queer person of color to be elected to the state legislature in 2020; Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal; and representatives of Councilmember Althea Stephens at the rally.
“Ali Forney did incredible work to sound the alarm for queer youth and I’m glad ACS has taken the first step, which is acknowledging the problem,” said Brisport in a statement. “I look forward to seeing what plan they devise and learning how they wish to implement it.”
In a statement, Stevens said, “NYC ACS must immediately overhaul its current practices to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth are not only safe but also supported in every aspect of their development, with programs that focus on the importance of acceptance, the use of correct pronouns, and the devastating impacts of discrimination. By fostering a culture of understanding and empathy, we can transform the foster care system into a haven of safety and inclusion for all LGBTQ+ youth.” ACS has been cooperative in listening to the center’s complaints, said Roque, vowing to expand their policy revisions and keep LGBTQ+ children safe in their identities and homes. Though he admits he’s nervous about the gap of reality that often forms between policy and implementation, he hopes that ACS workers on the ground will be able to adapt. The overarching goal is to develop the city agency’s policies into a state law named after Forney, said Roque.
“It is of the utmost importance that all of the youth and families we serve are treated and cared for in an affirming manner,” said Marisa Kaufman, an ACS spokesperson. “We look forward to working in partnership with the Ali Forney Center and benefitting from their expertise so that every young person and family in contact with ACS feels affirmed and supported.”