Tag Archives: Carl Siciliano

Guest Post: Ali Forney Center Head Carl Siciliano

From Joe: Beloved readers, on this Thanksgiving Day, as on every other day of the year, uncountable LGBT kids are living on the streets, turned out by the very people who are supposed to love them. As we do every Thanksgiving, today we turn JMG over to Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano. Please click and read his message below….. …

Read More »

October 23rd: Ali Forney Center’s Annual Gala

New York City’s Ali Forney Center will hold its annual fundraising gala for homeless LGBT youth on Friday, October 23rd in downtown Manhattan at Capitale. Tickets are still available! Comedian and Orange Is The New Black star Lea DeLaria will be the evening’s host and there’s an always terrific after-party following the main event. The following night, Saturday the 24th, …

Read More »

Ali Forney Center To Pope: We’re Not Sinners [VIDEO]

Clip recap: “Over 200,000 LGBT youths are homeless in America. The biggest reason LGBT youths cannot remain in their homes is due to the religious beliefs of their parents. Watch brave clients of the Ali Forney Center describe the abuse and rejection they suffered. Every child deserves to be loved.”

Read More »

Ali Forney Center Breaks Ground On Residence Named For Bea Arthur

Via press release: On Monday, July 20, 2015, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Bea Arthur Residence, an 18-bed residence for homeless LGBT youth operated by the Ali Forney Center. In 2012 the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President awarded $3,300,000 for the renovation of a long vacant building owned by the New York City …

Read More »

Guest Post: Carl Siciliano

“We won’t have a faggot in our house.” Those are the words M heard after his mother died of cancer. He was 16. His mom had loved and accepted him. But not his aunt and uncle. They took in his little brother, but left M to fend for himself in the streets. M lived in a town in Florida that …

Read More »

Quote Of The Day – Carl Siciliano

“I feel like the LGBT movement has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to this. We’ve been so focused on laws – changing the laws around marriage equality, changing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ getting adoption rights – that we haven’t been fighting for economic resources. How many tax dollars do gay people contribute? What percentage of tax dollars …

Read More »

KICKSTARTER: Documentary On LGBT Youth Homelessness For Ali Forney Center

From the Kickstarter page: Road to Home will follow a half dozen young LGBT people who turned to the streets after being rejected by their families. Having been in production for the last year, we have met a number of people who have allowed us into their lives and have agreed to be filmed. Through the use of observational footage, …

Read More »

JMG T-Shirt Model: Carl Siciliano

Since $5 from the sale of every JMG t-shirt goes to the Ali Forney Center, it’s only appropriate that our first model is AFC founder Carl Siciliano, seen here with his pet pig Sophie, who has her own Facebook page.  Get your own shirt here – you don’t get a pet pig, but you do get a copy of the …

Read More »

NEW YORK CITY: Rally For Homeless LGBT Youth Shelters On Monday June 2nd

Via press release: National Campaign for Youth Shelter calls for 22,000 beds for homeless youth: The Ali Forney Center and the National Coalition for the Homeless have released the list of speakers for the LGBT Rally for Homeless Youth, to be held in Washington Square Park at 6pm on Monday June 2nd. The National Campaign for Youth Shelter New York …

Read More »

LGBT Group Faith In America Issues Plea To Pope Francis In Full-Page NY Times Ad:
Stop Condemning Homosexual Acts

The LGBT group Faith In America today published a full-page open letter to Pope Francis in the New York Times. The letter was written by Ali Forney Center head Carl Siciliano and financial assistance was provided by furniture maker Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. Your Holiness, I write to you as a Roman Catholic, a former Benedictine monk and as …

Read More »

Carl Siciliano On Phil Robertson

Via Memeographs.

Read More »

TRAILER: Road To Home

From the producers: In the avalanche of homeless young people spreading across America, nearly half are LGBT, despite the fact that gay kids make up only 5-7% of the general population. In an era of increasing openness regarding LGBT issues, where marriage equality is making strides and anti-gay bullying is publicly shamed, kids are coming out to their parents younger …

Read More »

Guest Post: Carl Siciliano

We deal with a twofold tragedy every day at the Ali Forney Center. The first part is that hundreds of thousands of parents drive their children from their homes because they cannot accept having an LGBT child. The second part is that fewer than one tenth of homeless kids in this country can access a youth shelter bed. Hundreds of …

Read More »

Al Jazeera On Ali Forney Center

As part of its coverage of the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, yesterday Al Jazeera published a story about the destruction the Ali Forney Center’s Manhattan headquarters, which staffers found devastated by chest-high seawater. But Al Jazeera says that the public’s reaction to Ali Forney’s plight was one of the few “feel-good stories” of the storm. And that good feeling was …

Read More »

At The Ali Forney Center Gala

At Friday night’s Ali Forney Center fundraiser, Carl Siciliano thoughtfully seated me and Dr. Jeff at the “Icons & Legends” table, knowing that I would be beyond delighted to spend much of the evening chatting with Stonewall Uprising participants Martin Boyce and Danny Garvin, who were homeless teenagers at the time. Carl forwards us a portion of the note Garvin …

Read More »

Ali Forney Center Announces Shred Of Hope Celebrity Online T-Shirt Auction

A galaxy of stars have come together to support the Ali Forney Center’s Shred Of Hope, an online auction in which you can bid on original t-shirts created by gay celebrities and straight allies. Each of the participants worked with designers at the Manhattan-based fetish wear company Nasty Pig to create one-of-a-kind “shredders,” which are sort of not-tank-tops. Among the …

Read More »

Headline Of The Day

Carl Siciliano applauds Ksen Pallegedara: Last weekend I found myself in a gym in Portland, Oregon with tears streaming down my face. I was at Lewis & Clark Law School, at the graduation ceremony of Ksen Pallegedara, one of the first young people ever to stay at the Ali Forney Center. As I saw Ksen walk by in his cap …

Read More »

Guest Post – Carl Siciliano

Dear Friends, When disaster strikes you really find out who your friends are. Sandy did not spare the Ali Forney Center. While fortunately our eight housing sites were unharmed, and all our kids and staff came through safely, our drop-in center was utterly devastated. Four feet of water flooded the entire space. The floors, walls, outlets, were destroyed; all the …

Read More »

Sunday In NYC: Ali Forney Center Fundraiser In Hell’s Kitchen

Tomorrow in Hell’s Kitchen: The Ali Forney Center (AFC) – the nation’s largest services and advocacy organization working on behalf of runaway and homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth – had its drop-in center destroyed by the Hudson River storm surge following Hurricane Sandy. The center served as the entry point for a number of AFC services, …

Read More »

The Los Angeles Times Reports On The Response For The Ali Forney Center

As Hurricane Sandy unfolded, numerous unfounded rumors and some outright deliberate lies swirled across Twitter, ultimately costing one GOP operative his job. But in their cataloging of the abuses on Twitter, today the Los Angeles Times finds one shining light. And that light, my tender kittens, is YOU. But as the floodwaters receded along with the furor over @ComfortablySmug, another …

Read More »