The latest study coming out of Boston Children’s Hospital should shame politicians throughout this country who are cutting vital services to those in need, but I guarantee it won’t. It should also serve as yet another wake-up call to the queer community, which has not poured any substantial amount of money or effort into solving one of our most pressing problems. I don’t mean the lack of “marriage equality.”

I’m talking about the epidemic of homelessness in our midst.

In a recent survey of 6,000 high school students in Massachusetts, researchers at Children’s Hospital found that 25% of those who are homeless are LGBT and 15% bisexual. Only three percent of heterosexual teens are without homes, according to the research.

“It may be that their living situation is so difficult that they decide to leave home, and it may be that they are coming out and their parents are telling them, not under my roof,” commented Heather Corliss, an instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study, which was just published in The American Journal of Public Health.

“The high risk of homelessness among sexual minority teens is a serious problem requiring immediate attention,” Corliss explained. “These teens face enormous risks and all types of obstacles to succeeding in school, and are in need of a great deal of assistance.” 

“I hope these findings will lead to changes in communities to reduce the disparities,” Corliss added. “There has to be changes in communities, in churches, in schools, and in families so that they become more supportive.”

Those changes are unlikely, especvially in the queer community.

In 2006, a national study conducted by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found that 20 to 40% of LGBT youth were homeless. It was a serious wake-up call. It went unheeded at a time when the gay marriage movement was picking up steam, not to mention untold millions of dollars in contributions.  

Here in San Francisco, research has shown that 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT. Another wake-up call that has received only a token response. With over a thousand homeless queer youth on the street every day, the city only funds a few shelter beds and two dozen hotel rooms for homeless queer youth. 

Meanwhile, merchants and neighbors in the Castro never cease complaining about those they perceive as “homeless” (including youth) sitting or sleeping on benches in Harvey Milk Plaza. They’ve managed to get the attention of the Castro Benefits District, which is proposing to remove the benches (something that was done before) and even post a security guard at the plaza. 

How soon they forget that in the 60s and 70s straight neighbors used the same tactics to discourage gay men from hanging out and cruising in public spaces.  

When the bullying issue made headlines after several gay teens committed suicide, the response was overwhelming. Overnight, it became a national issue, invoking the outrage of millions of Americans. Queer celebrities such as Dan Savage and Ellen DeGeneres jumped on board a campaign to assure youth that “it gets better.”

Don’t expect that type of response from the Boston study. For homeless queer youth, it never gets better.