The night before the rally the Ali Forney shelter was defaced with Anti-LGBT hate graffiti. For Immediate Release: Contact: Carl Siciliano, Ali Forney Center 917-822-0120 carlsiciliano@aol.com Wil Fisher, Ali Forney Center 646-322-7999 wfisher@aliforneycenter.org June 11, 2010 AVP is outraged by anti-LGBT and anti-youth violence at the Ali Forney Center Queens, NY, June 10th, 2010 – The Ali Forney Center’s newly opened shelter for homeless LGBT youth in Astoria Queens was defaced last night with anti-gay graffiti. At 6am this morning, two of the residents of the shelter discovered the slurs which included; "We don't want gay people here" written on the exterior of the shelter, and "Gay Shelter" written on the site’s door (see image below). "I am infuriated that someone would target our kids in this cowardly way" says Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, the nation’s largest organization serving homeless LGBT youth. "The young people who come to us for help and shelter have already experienced terrible hardship, and I will not stand for them to be further abused." The Ali Forney Center (AFC) is working with the New York City Anti-Violence Project, with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and with local Councilmember Peter Vallone on devising strategies to protect its residents from further attacks. AFC has also reached out to the local police precinct and the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force who are now conducting an investigation into the incident. “The New York City Anti-Violence Project was shocked to learn about this violent act directed at the youth and staff of the Ali Forney Center and we will do everything we can to provide support to AFC and the communities affected by the violence,” said Sharon Stapel, Executive Director of AVP, in response to this news. “We stand with AFC in denouncing this act of bias and hate. At AVP, we know these acts of hate violence are intended to scare and intimidate the LGBT communities and the youth and staff at the shelter. We say to the perpetrator of this heinous violence: we will not be scared, we will not be intimidated. We will not tolerate the targeting of LGBT youth.” Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn also responded to the incident stating, “The act of hate demonstrated outside the Ali Forney Center in the Astoria is unacceptable. I was angered and deeply disturbed when I heard someone would go to such great lengths to vandalize a building that acts as a safe space for our youth. The Ali Forney center serves hundreds of LGBT youth every year and will continue to serve those in need. Anyone who vandalizes a space for runaway and homeless youth in the middle of the night is a coward. Our community will continue to work to combat hate crimes in our city and ensure spaces like the Ali Forney Center stay safe.” The Astoria shelter which opened last October, is located in a church building rented to the Ali Forney Center at low cost by the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, which spent $200K over the past year renovating the space in order to offer shelter to homeless LGBT Youth. Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island also spoke out in support of the victims of this horrendous act stating, "This is an affront to the people served by St. Andrew's shelter and to our ministry. We are committed to working with other community leaders to find out who is behind this hateful action." The majority of the clients of the Ali Forney Center were rejected by their families for being gay. The Ali Forney Center has been working with a number of other LGBT youth providers to plan a rally to protect homeless LGBT youth on Monday, June 14th at 6:30pm at Union Square, and asks that people come to the rally to express their support for homeless LGBT youth, and their outrage at the many ways in which LGBT youth are hurt and attacked. For more information on the rally, visit: http://www.aliforneycenter. or the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event. Rally To Protect Homeless LGBT Youth Monday, June 14th, 2010 · 6:30pm  RALLY TO PROTECT HOMELESS LGBT YOUTH MONDAY JUNE 14TH, 6:30PM, UNION SQUARE As LGBT youth find the courage to come out of the closet at younger ages, thousands are being rejected by their families and forced out of their homes. Most homeless LGBT youth describe having suffered violence and harassment in their homes due to their sexual orientations and gender identities. As many as 40% of the homeless youth in the United States are LGBT. Homeless LGBT youth are subjected to violence and harassment on the streets and in mainstream youth shelters. They face tremendous risk of HIV infection, drug addiction, and criminalization. This phenomenon of thousands of LGBT youth being forced from their homes due to homophobia, stripped of economic support, and made to endure homelessness represents the most terrible cruelty and intolerance currently directed at the LGBT community. Any community has an obligation to protect it's youth when they are being hurt and attacked. We call on the LGBT Community to stand up for our youth suffering on the streets, and advocate that they receive the protection and care that all young people need and deserve. We call on the members of the LGBT Community, our straight allies, and on all decent people who believe that youths should not be thrown to the streets for being LGBT, to rally in support of the following goals:
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**Please invite your friends to this event and post on your Facebook profiles / Twitter accounts.** |
Monday, June 14, 2010
Hate Crime Committed Against NYC Ali Forney Queer Homeless Shelter
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