Boy

I love the work that I've been doing now for the past four months. I work with the most honest, genuine kids that ever graced this earth. Most of them don't have a lot. Some of them, have nothing. Their circumstances are harsh.

Homeless Youth in Salt Lake City often find their way to the Center. On a warm summer night we have about 6-10 youth that come to relax, get something to eat and just socialize. 40% of the homeless youth identify as other than heterosexual. Tonight, I met Byron. (That's not him in the picture & if you are asking if it's a boy or a girl, you just met genderqueer)

He is tall, with dark hair. He has a beautiful face. He's good looking, clean-cut and quiet. Tonight he seemed anxious, desperate even. He approached me after being on the phone and ask if he could make a long distance phone call. I started work on finding him access to a phone that would dial long distance. His frustration seem to mount as he made his phone calls until he was quietly in tears. He needed some where to go and it was getting dark.

We made the usual suggestions and then I learned that he is only 16. He can't go home, it's to dangerous. He is not accepted at home. He can't go to the Homeless Youth Center without notifying his parents because he is under 18. He can't go to Youth Services or call CPS. Each agency will notify his parents. Your asking what the big deal is at this point? He, Byron, doesn't have the right anatomical parts and he repeatedly emphasized that he could die if he went home.

Centers and shelters that could house him will not only have to notify his parents of his whereabouts, but they will separate him by gender...after a strip search. Further endangering his life.

I can't take him home, I can't give him money, I can only stand there, helpless. Byron is a normal, clean-cut 16 year old boy. He could be your next door neighbor. And all I could do was pray that as I sent him into the dark, that he could find a safe place to stay. Clean-cut kids from middle-income families fair the very worst on the streets. They don't know the rules or understand the language. I hope that Byron slept alright.