Champions in the fight against youth homelessness honored by the White House

The White House will today honor leaders in the fight against homelessness among children and youth as “Champions of Change.” Task Force Deputy Executive Director Darlene Nipper will be in attendance at the event, and Carl Siciliano, founder of the Ali Forney Center, which has grown to become the nation’s largest housing program for homeless LGBT youth, will be honored at the event.

According to our report, Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth: An epidemic of homelessness, between 20 and 40 percent of our nation’s homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). You can learn more about the unique challenges that lead to LGBT youth homelessness with this new infographic created by the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work.

You can watch today’s event live by visiting www.whitehouse.gov/live at 1:30 pm ET today.

UPDATE: U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan joined today’s event and sat with the “Champions of Change.” In January at our National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, Donovan announced a new HUD policy to fight discrimination against LGBT people in federally supported housing programs.