Homeless Gay Teen: Don't Cut Our Funding

A homeless teenage resident of New York's Ali Forney Center has written a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo pleading with him not to cut state funding for homeless youth shelters.

JoeMyGod obtained a copy of the letter from Ali Forney founder Carl Siciliano. In the letter, Raciel Castillo (pictured, left) writes, "Governor Cuomo, I want you to understand how terrible things are for homeless kids. I want you to understand how mean and reckless it is to cut support for kids out on the streets. I have lots of friends who have nowhere safe to sleep. I know some who have to prostitute themselves just to have a place to sleep. Kids get beat up and hurt on the streets. The Ali Forney Center is named after a kid who was murdered on the streets. Too many of us were thrown out by parents who refuse to care about us. Please Governor Cuomo, don't throw us away also."

Read the full letter here.