A very touching and moving documentary of gay youth homelessness in the United states. Thank God that there are actually people who look into these issues. there are people who care about the homeless kids. give them a chance to live. support them, let them be strong. not be a victim of their sexual orientation.

some things that they wrote and speak out in the final part almost brought tears to my eyes. below is just a sneak peek of the documentary. 

and the following are quotes that i find greatly insipiring

these kids were asked to write, beginning with the statement : "you think i'm at risk, because"

"you think i'm at risk, because i'm different. bcuz i don't have a lot of family. bcuz i'm in the system. i've got abused a lot by my parents. i don't have any reasons to live anymore."

"bcuz i'm gay. i'm a man of colours."

"bcuz i explore myself. explore my options and explore my world."

"bcuz people constantly inform me that my state of mind and being is a choice. bcuz legally i cannot marry the love of my life. bcuz its immoral."

"bcuz for some reasons, coast to coast, the united states stands against us. to hate us. to hurt us. to make us feel ashamed for the person who we wanna be."

"i have had dreams of being in the coffin, and no one wants to come to my funeral. "

"at risk to me its just an opportunity to prove something wrong."

look at what the staff say about them:

"they teach us that they are not the victim. they can, with our support, achieve amazing things."

"i love keep coming to this job. bcuz i love to watch them grow up. i love to watch the potential be instill in them."

"for any kid, whom somebody thought less of them, bcuz they are gay or lesbian, needed to have space, for they could explode into who they were created to be."

"they are a lot stronger than half of the people i ever met in my life."

"people just completely overlooked these children. and they have so much to give."

and finally, what they think of themselves:

"i'm a graduate, i'm an activist, i'm a role model. and while i'm at risk, i will not stop until i get to where i'm going."

"i'm coloured. i'm live. i'm music. i'm poetry. in other words, i'm art. i'm an individual. however, there's one thing that i'm not. i'm not a victim."

"i'm bright, i'm funny, i'm different."

"i'm fabulous, and gay, and intelligent, and aspiring to be all that i can be."

"i'm a friend, i'm a son, i'm a student, i'm a human, i'm a co worker. i'm smart, i'm friendly. i'm a photographer. i'm talented. i'm life. i'm a gift of reality. i'm proud of who i am. i'm proud to be doing this."

these people just give us hope to live a better tomorrow don't they?

CREDITS

MY ADDRESS: A Look At Gay Youth Homelessness
With Katherine Moennig

Director: Gigi Nicolas
Producer: Lindsay Webster
Editor: Carlos Almonte
Director of Photography: Vitaly Bokser
Second Camera: Hedia Maron
Location Audio: Joram Schwartz
Production Assistant: Tristan Cowen 

a Big thank you to the staff, board and young people of the Hetrick-Martin Institute who made this project a reality.

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