The Forgotten Children

I imagine it is hard enough growing up in a foster’s parent home but imagine what it must be like if you are LGBT? The CT Post has an article these kids…

States fight discrimination toward gay foster kids
By KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press
Saturday, June 22, 2013

MIAMI (AP) — Sixto Cancel says his ultra-religious foster family frequently talked about their disdain for his homosexuality at the dinner table, trashed his room and called him homophobic slurs. While he was still a teenager, he says, they kicked him out of their Connecticut home after he had lived there for nearly a decade.
[…]
"I've had conversations with many youth in the system who will not come out because they saw how staff treated their friends in the system after they came out," said Kamora Herrington (I interned with Kamora at True Colors), mentoring program director of True Colors, an organization that helps gay foster youths in Connecticut.

Last year, a lesbian girl who Herrington worked with was kicked out of a Connecticut foster home after the family's grandmother, who was very opposed to homosexuality, moved in. Herrington said the last time she heard from the girl, she was hitch-hiking across the country.

During my internship at True Colors I met many children like the one Karmora mentioned many of them were trans and they have a hard time finding foster parents or mentors for trans-kids. True Colors is always looking for adults to mentor them and they offer a training program for their mentors.

I was at a fundraiser for CTAC Saturday, while I was there a trans-woman came up to me and said “Hi Diana.” It turned out that she was one of the kids who attended True Colors functions (True Colors runs many programs for LGBT youth, not just programs for DCF) back when I interned there.

I urge you to think about becoming a foster parent for LGBT youth or mentoring a LGBT child.