One Utah

Last night, KUED re-aired the locally produced documentary Outside, about the lives and experiences of four homeless youth in Salt Lake City.

I know there are homeless people in Salt Lake City. I know there are homeless teens and young adults in Salt Lake City. I’ve advocated for better services for the homeless. I’ve advocated for better housing and better shelters and transitionary programs. I’ve argued against closing SRO housing downtown. But somehow, in my head the homeless are always adults. I wonder how many times I’ve driven past or walked past homeless kids and not even thought they might be at wit’s end, homeless, desperate.

Outside was a particularly disturbing documentary for me - I saw the streets I know, I saw places I know, I saw the city I know and I saw the people on the streets that I normally would not recognize as homeless. I see a group of teens on the corner I assume they’re just hanging out but the documentary showed that sometimes they aren’t just hanging out, they have no place else to go.

In one scene, two young men walked along, found a safe space, spread their blankets and went to sleep and as the camera panned back, I realized I knew where they were. I’ve never slept on the streets of Salt Lake and deo volente I never will but it was a shock to realize that kids are sleeping in the nooks and crannies of our city, places past which I drive many days. In another scene, one of the young men was getting ready to go out - and he described that was he “escorting” for the evening to make money. I’m not a cynic or anything, but I’d bet “escorting” is code for turning tricks. Many homeless youth turn to prostitution - their bodies are the only assets they possess. Often, rather than asking for money, they’ll ask for a place to stay. A member of my congregation worked with homeless youth and reports that for many gay teens, trading sex for security is reasonable and a better choice than drugs. In another scene, a young woman talked about being thrown out of home for getting her hair cut too short. One of the young men in the film, was kicked out because his family simply did not have room for him. He hopped freight trains and rode places. He used heroin. He scrambled and when his life fell apart, he disappeared.

According to Outside 40% of homeless youth self-identify as glbt. Friends of mine who work with the homeless and with the glbt community report huge numbers of young people in Utah get kicked out their homes for coming out, going literally from middle class high school student to homeless person in an instant. The shock of suddenly being homeless, with the added dangers of homelessness itself, can be enough to throw most teens off the rails permanently. Street life and culture are dangerous. Teens, especially gay teens, don’t go to the shelters, where their youth and orientation make them targets of violence. There is an added level of complication that as minors even if their families kick them out, homeless teens are still at the legal mercy of their families. For instance, they can’t go into the foster care system if their parents challenge it. They can be forced to go home where they will be subject to abuse.

The shock of seeing the streets I know through the eyes of homeless teens will stay with me for a while. I don’t know the answers. I know that we’re not doing enough to help. I’ve wondered before if mental illness causes homelessness or if homelessness causes mental illness. The young man in Outside whose family kicked him about because they were out of room said at one point (when his life was stable) that no matter where he goes or what he does in life, part of him will always know he was homeless and he will always carry that with him.

This entry was posted Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 10:26 am and is filed under 4th Estate (Media), Bigotry, Bigotry, Bullying, Crimes, Homophobia, Religious Fundamentalism, Salt Lake City, Sex. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.