Best known for her
wise-cracking, sharp wit as Dorothy in
TheGolden Girls
, gay icon Bea Arthur will be honored in a memorial
service on September 14 as New York City's Ali Forney
Center -- an organization dedicated to homeless LGBT
youths -- plans to celebrate her gay advocacy efforts
by naming a residence center in her honor.
"Bea Arthur was
tremendously kind and generous to the Ali Forney Center,"
Carl Siciliano, AFC founder and executive director, said in a
media release. "The caring and concern that Bea expressed
for our kids meant the world to us, and we are thrilled to be
able to give honor to her memory in this way."
Four years ago the Tony
Award-winning actress flew to New York for a benefit
performance for the center, raising more than $40,000.
She continued to be an advocate for homeless LGBT youths up
until her death in April.
"Before Bea became
involved with us, we only had two sites, and could only shelter
12 kids," says Siciliano. "We were struggling to
respond to an epidemic of homelessness that was not very well
understood, even in the LGBT community. Bea's support and
advocacy really helped raise awareness in our community.Èd;
In 2007, the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force released a report declaring an
epidemic of homelessness for queer and trans youths. According
to their research, between 20% and 40% of an estimated
1.6 million homeless youths are LGBT. Many teens also leave
home due to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and are more
likely to use drugs, resort to prostitution to
make money, and attempt suicide.
The AFC is dedicated to
getting homeless LGBT youths off the streets by offering
emergency and transitional housing programs, street outreach,
primary medical care, HIV prevention, and employment assistance
and job training.
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