Time Out Youth is a nonprofit organization in Charlotte, North Carolina, that advocates, supports and provides emergency shelter services for LGBT youth.
Time Out Youth was founded by Tonda Taylor in 1991 as a way to help LGBT youth who had been banished from their own homes because of their sexuality. In its first years it hosted Charlotte's first LGBT prom, and was part of the national initiatives for LGBT youth. [1]
Today they offer group counseling and education to 11-20 year olds who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. They also have a host home program where LGBT youth 18-23 are temporarily placed with host families or individuals until they can find a permanent home. LGBT youth account for nearly 40 percent of homeless youth and are at a high risk for assault and violence, hence the need for an organization like Time Out Youth. [2] The organization serves a seven-county region in the Charlotte metro area. [3]
A gay–straight alliance, gender-sexuality alliance (GSA) or queer–straight alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organization, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United States and Canada. Gay–straight alliance is intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and all LGBTQ+ individuals, children, teenagers, and youth as well as their cisgender heterosexual allies. The first GSAs were established in the 1980s. Scientific studies show that GSAs have positive academic, health, and social impacts on schoolchildren of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Numerous judicial decisions in United States federal and state court jurisdictions have upheld the establishment of GSAs in schools, and the right to use that name for them.
LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.
Ryan Townsend Butler is an American politician and filmmaker. He directed the first documentary about same-sex marriage to air on national television in the United States, is the former president of the LGBT Democrats of North Carolina and is a former member of the Democratic National Committee.
Q-Notes is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper serving North Carolina and South Carolina. It is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Published every other week, it has a circulation of 11,000 print copies and is the largest print publication serving the LGBT community in the American Southeast. The paper traces its origins to the monthly newsletter of the Queen City Quordinators, a Charlotte LGBT organization, which they began publishing in 1983. In 1986, Qnotes changed to a monthly tabloid. In 2006, it merged with the Raleigh, N.C. LGBT newspaper The Front Page.
Equality NC(ENC) is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocacy group and political lobbying organization in North Carolina and is the oldest statewide LGBT equality organization in the United States.
Elevation Church is an Evangelical non-denominational multi-site megachurch based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Weekly church attendance was 14,000 people in 2023. Elevation has 20 locations. Its senior pastors are Steven Furtick and Holly Furtick.
Ali He'shun Forney was an African-American gay and gender non-conforming transgender youth who also used the name Luscious.
Lucie's Place is an organization in Little Rock, Arkansas, working to open a home for homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless LGBTQ young adults. Lucie's Place is named in memory of Lucille Marie Hamilton, a young transgender woman who died on July 11, 2009.
True Colors United is an American nonprofit organization addressing the issue of youth homelessness in the United States. Founded in 2008 by Cyndi Lauper, the organization focuses on the unique experiences of LGBT youth, who make up 40% of the homeless youth population in America.
Agniva Lahiri was an Indian LGBT social activist from Kolkata, who was active in promoting the causes of the transgender members of the community. Lahiri founded People Like Us (PLUS) Kolkata, a Non Governmental Organization, in 2001 and served as its executive director. Lahiri was also associated with Network of Asia Pacific Youth as a coordinator for policy research and international advocacy.
Lost-n-Found Youth is an Atlanta, Georgia-based organization that assists homeless LGBT youth. The organization, at the time of its 2011 founding was the "only organization actively taking Atlanta's LGBT homeless youth directly off the streets".
The city of Shanghai, China, a global center for finance, technology, manufacturing, and transportation, has a presence of LGBT people.
Research shows that a disproportionate number of homeless youth in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, or LGBT. Researchers suggest that this is primarily a result of hostility or abuse from the young people's families leading to eviction or running away. In addition, LGBT youth are often at greater risk for certain dangers while homeless, including being the victims of crime, risky sexual behavior, substance use disorders, and mental health concerns.
The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 19, 2017, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2016–17 season. It was the 66th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, home of the New Orleans Pelicans. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 192–182. Anthony Davis was named the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player after scoring 52 points, at the time the most ever by a player in an NBA All-Star Game. The game was televised nationally by TNT and TBS in the United States.
Blake Brockington was an American trans man whose suicide attracted international attention. He had previously received attention as the first openly transgender high school homecoming king in North Carolina, and had since been advocating for LGBT youth, the transgender community, and against police brutality.
The Ali Forney Center (AFC), based in New York City, is the largest LGBT community center helping LGBTQ homeless youth in the United States. The AFC both manages and develops transitional housing for its clients. AFC helps approximately 2,000 youth clients each year, primarily between sixteen and twenty-four years old. AFC is named after Ali Forney, a transgender youth who was murdered in New York in 1997.
The Montrose Center is an LGBTQ community center located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The organization provides an array of programs and services for the LGBTQ community, including mental and behavioral health, anti-violence services, support groups, specialized services for youth, seniors, and those living with HIV, community meeting space, and it now operates the nation's largest LGBTQ-affirming, affordable, senior living center in the nation, the Law Harrington Senior Living Center. It is a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. It is in Neartown (Montrose).
Donaldson Wells King (1942–2014) was a writer and gay rights activist in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Vic Gerami is an Armenian-American journalist, LGBT activist, and columnist based in Los Angeles, California. He is the host and producer of the radio show The Blunt Post with Vic and the editor and publisher of The Blunt Post.
Kristi Pinderi is an Albanian activist advocating for LGBT community rights and a freelance journalist resident in Canada. He is the founder of the Pro-LGBT organization in Albania.