In Some Cities, Gays Face Greater Risk Of Becoming Homeless

[AngryOldDem]

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/06/209510271/in-some-cities-gays-face-greater-risk-of-becoming-homeless


<<Tim Oviatt was once a successful businessman. For 32 years, he owned an apparel store in San Francisco called All American Boy.

"If you wore my logo T-shirt, people knew you were gay all over the world," he says.

Now, Oviatt finds himself symbolizing something stark about the gay community. Having lost his business, his longtime partner and finally his home, Oviatt, who is 64, has mostly been sleeping in his car the past nine months.

He's not alone. A recent census of the homeless population in San Francisco found that 29 percent of them identify as gay. That is twice the share of the city's total population that is gay, lesbian or transgendered.>>>

_____________________________________________

And the story goes on to say that upwards of 40% of homeless people in Boston and LA are gays under the age of 25. There is absolutely no safety net, which is another consequence of being marginalized in this society.

This dovetails precisely, I think, with this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014558345

[William769]

1. This has happened all to many times.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. It is the lack of Federal rights and protections that does this.

The rights Centrists and Conservatives have had such a hard time accepting, the rights they have always plead against or begged that they must be delayed 'we have to wait until the old folks die off!!!' they said or 'after the next election, maybe, but not now!'
Everyone who has ever advocated against or for the delay of equal rights for LGBT people helped make this man and others homeless.