The Center’s May Community Coalition Breakfast, Friday, May 21, brought together several city leaders to focus on the challenges facing gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth in San Diego. The panel included Katherine Nakamura, vice president of the San Diego City Board of Education, UCSD LGBT Resource Center Director Shaun Travers, Miccaela Baird-Rosecrans and Chilan Ta of UCSD Queer People of Color (QPOC), Walden Family Services Executive Director Mindy Watrous and Dr. Heather Berberet of the LGBTQ+ Youth Sheltering Project.

Nakamura spoke about GLBT issues and youth as both an administrator and as a parent, saying that though there is a long road ahead to make GLBT youth safe and comfortable in the school system, progress is already being made.

“I think the fact that we have more same-sex parents, and their kids are in our schools, and they’re open about it, is revolutionary,” she said. “That did not happen in my generation.”

Still, there is much work to be done, she said, locally, statewide and nationally. “It is a very interesting and dynamic time and I am glad to be a part of it. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have more work to do.” Nakamura went on to call the proposed federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage “ridiculous.”

She said the school board recently had a hate crime committed at a middle school, and brought up the importance of electing GLBT-friendly school board officials to help implement policies that will protect GLBT students who are harassed. Nakamura also cited a school board in Orange County where three members have refused to adopt AB 537, the School Safety and Violence Prevention Act, which protects transgendered students from harassment. “The state has come down on them,” Nakamura said “and the state has since backed off. School board elections are very important.”

Travers said the UCSD LGBT Resource Center works with GLBT college students who are at various stages of coming out, and the resource center tries to provide an environment where they can feel comfortable and make connections. He introduced Baird-Rosecrans and Ta of UCSD Queer People of Color, who have both worked extensively to pass GLBT-centered legislation through the student government, such as a recent resolution denouncing the proposed federal constitutional amendment, organized rallies and coordinated events such as the Day of Silence.

“When you see 200 kids all in black, not talking, while campus life continues to move around them… it is a powerful thing,” Baird-Rosecrans said.

Berberet, the director of mental health at Walden Family Services, a private, nonprofit foster family agency, announced that the next phase of the LGBTQ+ Youth Sheltering Project is underway, with potential sites being scouted for a transitional housing facility designed to stabilize lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and HIV-positive youth (LGBTQ+), and help them successfully transition from homelessness. The project is 12 to 18 months away from actually breaking ground, but “that is a lot closer than we ever thought we’d be two or three years ago,” Berberet said.

The LGBTQ+ Youth Housing Project is a collaborative of The Center, Walden Family Services, YMCA Youth and Family Services, Metropolitan Community Church and Children’s Hospital. The collaborative conducted a comprehensive needs assessment study released in November of last year that found that a range of services is needed beyond the transitional living facility, including a youth drop-in center, an emergency shelter, foster care and group home services, and permanent affordable housing.

The collaborative hired a consulting service that surveyed the city’s LGBTQ+ youth homeless population through individual and group interviews, as well as pencil and paper surveys, and interviewed housing providers and community leaders. The consulting service interviewed a total of 400 youth and 50 service providers.

The survey consisted of 31 percent Latino/a, 28 percent Black/African-American, 4 percent Asian/Pacific Islander and 34 percent White/European-American respondents. The majority of participants were between the ages of 15 and 20, though 11 percent were between 12 and 14 years old and 29 percent were 21 to 24.

“These youth were on the street and they were experiencing a difficulty in accessing current housing services, and I’ll let you know that there’s almost no youth beds in this county anyway,” Berberet said.

One of the most distressing things the survey found was that 17 percent of the self-identified LGBTQ+ youth interviewed were HIV-positive, while the national average is 7 percent.

“That’s a really high HIV-positive rate that is really concerning to us,” Berberet said.

Of the youth interviewed, 39 percent said that the only reason they were homeless was because they had been kicked out of their biological or foster home due to their sexual orientation. Youth consistently reported that they did not feel safe accessing the support services available to them in San Diego County. They also reported that service providers encouraged them not to disclose their sexual orientation or HIV status at the shelters, for their own safety.

Berberet mentioned that 100 percent of the healthcare providers interviewed said they would like more training to help them accommodate GLBT youth issues.

“Most service providers don’t have policies to deal with [sexual orientation],” she said. “Eighty-five percent of them commented on what they perceived as their agency’s poor performance and lack of cultural awareness for the youth. Clearly, there is a need for education and a desire for education, which I think is very, very positive.”

“We need to create culturally competent foster care for youth that are trying to come out, that when they do come out they are not mistreated and are not afraid to come out because of the repercussions that will occur,” Watrous added.

The collaborative is currently looking for a property owner who is willing to be patient with the eight to 18 months they project it will take to gather the funding necessary to purchase the property.

Community Coalition Breakfast’s take place on the third Friday of every month in The Center’s auditorium, from 7:30-9:00 a.m. Cost is $6 per person and includes breakfast, a panel presentation, networking and a question and answer session. Call (619) 692-2077 ext. 212 for more information.