Living On The Streets
Of Chicago
Homeless LGBT Youths
True Stories: A profile on youth Who
have Lived on the Streets of Chicago
Name: Stephanie
Age: 24
Orientation: Bisexual
Ethnicity: Latina
Current Status: Homeless
LE: Why are you homeless? I am currently home-
less because my job lost the funding for my position.
LE: What is the Hardest/ Easiest thing about being a homeless youth? I think the hardest thing
about being homeless is finding stable housing
and stable people to count on that doesn’t result
in me going into a shelter. The easiest thing would
be to know that there is a lot of organizations that
are helping me get back on my feet.
Name; Cat
Age: 26
Orientation: Lesbian
Ethnicity: Native American/italian
Current Status: Previously Homeless
LE: Why were you homeless? I had a very abusive
home life.
LE: What is the Hardest/ Easiest thing about being
a homeless youth? The hardest part about being
homeless was looking for my next meal and not
knowing where it would come from.
LE: What do you think is the most common misconception associated with homeless youth?
That we are trouble makers & runaways
LE: What would you like the community and the
world to know about homeless youth?
Some of us are out here not because we want to
be but because we have no other choice.
Name: Cassie
Age: 24
Orientation: Bisexual
Ethnicity: White
Current Status: Previously Homeless
LE: Why were you homeless? My mother had died
leaving me alone.
LE: What do you think is the most common misconception associated with homeless youth? I
think the most common misconception is that all
homeless youth are thieves. That is not true.
LE: What is the Hardest/ Easiest thing about being a homeless youth? The hardest thing was not
having a home to go to and scraping for food,
bus cards etc. The easiest thing was having the
support of such a strong street family. Somebody
was always around.
LE: What would you like the community and the
world to know about homeless youth? “That a lot
of homeless youth are trying to get on their feet,
they just need someone to give them a chance,
an opportunity to do better.”
LE: What do you think is the most common misconception associated with homeless youth?
People think we are all lazy but we are truly very
resilient.
Name: Danielle
Age: 20
Orientation: Bisexual
Ethnicity: Mixed
Current Status: Homeless
LE: Why are you homeless? Issues with my family I
don’t wish to discuss.
LE: What is the Hardest/ Easiest thing about being
a homeless youth? The hardest thing about being
homeless is being pregnant and being so close to
my due date, which is about 3- weeks away. For
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me there is nothing easy about being homeless.
LE: What do you think is the most common misconception associated with homeless youth?
People think all homeless youth are bums and
lazy and that just because I’m homeless I’ll be a
bad mom.
LE: What would you like the community and the
world to know about homeless youth? “Some
of us don’t choose to be in this situation, don’t
judge us because of it.”
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LE: What would you like the community and the
world to know about homeless youth? The government needs more funding for human service
programs, drop- ins etc. The community needs to
get behind and uplift homeless youth.
Name: Christopher
Age: 23
Orientation: Homosexual
Ethnicity: African American
Current Status: Previously Homeless
LE: Why were you homeless? I was kicked out of
my house because of my lifestyle.
LE: What is the Hardest/ Easiest thing about being a homeless youth? The hardest part was just
being young and homeless and I honestly and I
honestly didn’t find anything easy about living on
the streets.
LE: What do you think is the most common misconception associated with homeless youth?
People still think all homeless youth steal or don’t
have any education and are lazy. What would
you like the community and the world to know
about homeless youth? “Just give homeless
youth a chance.”
LEZ ELEGANCE