Homeless LGBTQ youth

The leading cause of LGBTQ homelessness is due to the fact that when coming out the individual's family rejects their sexual orientation or their gender identity, causing them to leave their home and their mental health being negatively affected.

Jeremy Goldbach, Director of the Center for LGBT Health Equity in Los Angeles, says that "parental rejection and poor home environment have been associated with negative mental health outcomes."

For Thalia Jojola, a 26-year-old transgender woman, this was her reality when she was 18 and came out to her family. After being rejected by her mother and beat and starved by her father, she was forced out of her home and into homelessness.

She is now living in a red and black tent, a tent she shares with her boyfriend Carlos, her friend Collette and her one-year-old puppy Lily.

"I went through my phases: first, I came out as gay, then as bisexual, and then I fully came out as trans," Jojola said. "My mom was in denial and my dad started treating me different because he wanted a son, he wanted a son that would get married to a woman and have kids."

"The experience of coming out in and of itself is already stressful," Goldbach said. "In fact, over 50 percent of LGBTQ youth are already expecting to be rejected even before they get to come out to their parents."

He also said that homeless LGBTQ youth are more likely to report suicidal ideations. "LGBTQ homeless youth are more likely to experience PTSD, anxiety and other mental health problems than those who identify as straight," Goldbach said.

Cynthia Ruffin, Community Relations and Outreach Director for Colors LGBTQ Youth Counseling Services in Culver City, says that "home is where everything comes from, it’s where protection comes from, it’s where you learn the meaning of love."

She said that when LGBTQ youth are rejected by their family it is "like a carpet pulled away from under you and it affects the way you function and the ability to be successful in school."

This past January, Goldbach and other USC faculty members got together and conducted a study that gives light to LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness due to family rejection and who are experiencing mental health issues.

Jojola recalls feeling depressed when she saw herself leaving her home. "I was really sad, I cried a lot. My family gave me the whole evangelical talk and then told me I couldn’t stay with them anymore," she said.

In the study, 524 individuals were surveyed and 167 of them said they are or have experienced homelessness. Gay and lesbians were the majority experiencing or have experienced homelessness, followed by nonbinary/other gender and transgender people.

In Los Angeles City alone, there are a total of more than 5,000 homeless youth ages 24 and under, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Count. Out of that many, about 3,500 are LGBTQ, but there is no real count being recorded, the Los Angeles LGBT Center says.

Data from the homeless count from this past May shows that more than 60 percent of this young homeless population is sheltered and at least 30 percent is currently unsheltered.

In fact, the Los Angeles LGBT Center is one of other few centers that offers a wider range of services for this population experiencing homelessness. It not only helps out LGBTQ homeless youth, but it also is a center that provides a safe and welcoming space for those who are looking for a mentor, are not feeling safe at school and for those who simply want to connect with similar individuals.

Specifically, the Los Angeles LGBT Youth Center in North Hiland is the one that provides all services to the young LGBTQ homeless. They care for those who are 12-24 years old.

The center helps out homeless LGBTQ youth by providing them temporary housing that includes three meals a day, educational opportunities, counseling and support groups and many other services.

More than 80 percent of LGBTQ homeless youth tend to couch surf with friends or other people who they know and who are lending them a hand, while about 16 percent of them stay with strangers or any place outside, according to Goldbach’s study.

Many LGBTQ homeless youth turn to prostitution, using sex in exchange for housing and food, a practice that Ruffin calls "survival sex."

Survival sex is "a matter of what you need to survive,” Ruffin said. “It even depends if you're going to get a bed, a place to sleep, somewhere to shower."

For many of these youth who experience traumas, mental illnesses and other forms of abuse, having somewhere they can go to receive help and digest anything that has caused them anxiety, depression or PTSD is seen as a haven.

Ruffin is aware of how important talking things through with counselors is, and even though she is not a counselor she is proud that her center offers affirmative therapy to this homeless population.

"Therapists go through training to be affirming in all aspects. People still have their own biases that they bring to their practices and have a lack of understanding of what our queer community goes through," Ruffin said, explaining that affirmative therapy is the total opposite of conversion therapy. "We affirm the youth of who they are: their sexual orientation, their gender identity. Letting them understand that they are not alone and that there is a lot of history of struggle that comes before them, so they’re not alone."

However, for some homeless youth who do not have this resource it is easier to abuse substance to feel numb. "Most of our youth become addicted to drugs and alcohol because they want to turn off the voices in [their] head," Ruffin said.

Ever since high school, when Jojola was experiencing a hostile environment at home with her parents, she turned to alcohol and said she would "always go to school drunk, but I was always in the books. My teachers knew, they smelled it, but since I was really in the books they knew I was putting in work at least."

The substance abuse eventually made it into Jojola’s life. Because she did not know whether she wanted to die earlier or later from lupus, she turned to meth and cocaine to alleviate some of the thoughts and pain she was going through then.

"I’ve used meth, I’ve used coke before. I’ve not used crack, I’ve not used heroin," she said. "Now I smoke marijuana because I have lupus… so it helps me out to eat."

Data from Robin Petering, a researcher surveying Los Angeles’s homelessness, suggests that the top three substances that are abused by homeless youth are marijuana, meth and prescription drugs.

Jojola is one of hundreds of LGBTQ homeless youth who live with mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse problems and who live with a heavy sentiment not having family supporting them, let alone accepting their sexual orientation or gender identity.

"You’re reaching your goal of life and you just need that one big 'ol help from that angel to help you out for you can just breathe and just live your life beautifully. I’m just tired of being homeless," Jojola said, while crying, wiping her tears off her face and reaching out for her puppy Lily.