Premium Essay

Unwanted

In: English and Literature

Submitted By kbsing76
Words 992
Pages 4
Unwanted: LGBT Teen Homelessness
Keli Beall
Kaplan University
Unwanted: LGBT Teen Homelessness "We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty." - Mother Teresa
Jenny closed her eyes and pictured last year’s Christmas. Her family was all gathered around the tree, everyone wearing smiles and speaking with laughter. It was warm and she was excited not only about the holiday season, but also because she had planned to finally tell her parents about Maggie, her girlfriend of five months. She was a bit worried about how her parents would react but they loved her and would want her to be who she was and to be happy. She couldn’t wait to stop hiding, to stop pretending she was something else. She never thought that would be her last Christmas with her family. She never imagined that a year later she would be living on the streets, cold, scared and hungry watching all the happy families go in and out of the stores and shops.
Her parents kicked her out when she broke the news about Maggie. For a while she stayed with friends until there were no more offers of a place to lay her head for the night. She tried shelters until she got beat up one night when someone let it slip she was gay. For a bit she was staying at a home for LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) youth, but they ran out of funding and shut down. Now, she has nowhere to turn and wishes that someone would help her.
LGBT youth homelessness is rising at an alarming rate and without specific measures in place to combat the problems these kids face, the U.S. will continue to see that number rise. Steps can be taken to counter this problem through awareness programs, changing of state and federal laws and a national program that would

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Unwanted

...unwanted Chapter One I woke up to the sound of the music blasting from my iPhone. I quickly got up from the ground; I’m guessing that’s where I slept. I didn’t remember anything from last night, it was all a blur. Los Angeles nights get pretty out of hand when you go to spur of the moment parties, like Max always has. I felt like I had a hangover, thank God it was Saturday. All I remember from last night was that I was dancing, drinking, having a good time. Nothing bad, I just don’t know how I ended up on the floor back at my room , I’m pretty sure that I didn’t throw the party. “JUST ANSWER YOUR FRICKEN PHONE ALREADY!!!!” Erin, my roommate, screamed throwing a pillow at my head. I rubbed my eyes and to wake up and my hands turned black with makeup. The phone number was unknown but I answered anyway, “Hello?” I was so tired no noise came out of my mouth; I cleared my throat and repeated myself, “Hello?” A voice answered me, “HEEEYYY!” it sounded like a guy, maybe Dad? Was this another one of his early morning drunk calls from New York? I didn’t care who it was, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep, I had a massive headache and this loud man’s voice wasn’t helping the situation. “Who is this?” I said wondering. He stopped for a second “Don’t you remember, Daryl?” Honestly, I honestly had no idea who it was (And for the record I’m a girl, yes my name is Daryl blame my parents they named me. They have weird tastes). The guy on the phone was breathing loudly...

Words: 4591 - Pages: 19

Free Essay

The Unwanted Inheritance

...Dementia/Alzheimer’s – The Unwanted Inheritance Georgeanna L. Chapman COM/172 June 09, 2014 Janice Prewitt Dementia/Alzheimer’s – The Unwanted Inheritance It is time to start the day by getting up moving; standing there trying to remember the reason that they are perched there in the kitchen, but their brain isn’t operating correctly. Why can’t they remember what they walked in there for? It wasn’t like this yesterday, or was it is, but with the increasing symptoms of Alzheimer’s setting in, their world is changing, and there is nothing that they can do about it. Yesterday is a blur, today is starting out in a foggy cloud. Even though, environmental factors could contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s, 25% of all people aged 55 have family history of the disease, 50% of them will inherit the gene mutation. More studies need to be done when it comes to Alzheimer’s; a disease that is increasing in numbers and it is time to put more emphasis on this. With the number of cases rising at a fast rate, women need to stand up and take a stand and demand that more studies be performed as they are more at risk to get Alzheimer’s than Cancer; nearly two-thirds of those with Alzheimer’s are women. “Alzheimer’s disease was first identified more than 100 years ago but still relatively little is known and understood about the aetiology, pathogenesis, treatment management and prevention of the disease. Diagnosis is difficult, particularly in the early stages, and effective treatments...

Words: 1554 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Unwanted Pregnancies

...Margaret Sanger, the founder of the first birth control clinic in the United States, was arrested in 1916. At this time, there was a law prohibiting the distribution of information regarding contraception. Unfortunately, with the new “sexual freedoms” that the Roaring Twenties exhibited for women, thousands of women were baring more children than they wanted, more frequently than they wanted. With limited to no access to women’s health clinics, childbirth left many women too ill and weak to work. Over 250,000 women wrote to Sanger seeking information and advice regarding how to prevent more unwanted pregnancies. With the opening of the first birth control clinic in 1916, and her tireless efforts to support other clinics across the country, Margaret Sanger began a movement advocating for women’s health rights. In the American Promise textbook, the authors explain how Sigmund Freud, an every-day household name, was promoting his ideas that, as sexual beings, we should be able to “seek pleasure without guilt.” These Freudian concepts led to Americans exploring several ways of experiencing pleasure. Many of these newfound “pleasures” led to the prohibition of alcohol, challenged gender boundaries, and the expansion of mass media and communications. This roaring outrage of pleasure in the 1920s became known as the “roaring twenties.” While flappers were known for challenging the traditional gender boundaries through their sexual freedom, there were thousands of women who suffered...

Words: 369 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Examples Of Friendship In The Unwanteds

...Have you ever had a friend that was special to you? In “The Unwanteds” by Lisa McMann, the main character Alex and the Unwanteds are saved by a man, Mr. Today, secretly to prevent them from being eliminated. The Unwanteds go through many tasks. They fought together with friendship. But a few of these friendships have been broken throughout the book, which is why friendship doesn’t last forever. Friendship never lasts in life. This is due to the times when friends have to part ways. This happens when friends choose different paths or they are forced to. For example in the book, “The Unwanteds,” it states, “Alex swallowed hard, held the stare a second more as the governors tugged at him to follow, and then broke connection and went with the...

Words: 388 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Economist

...CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY. Pregnancy is the state of being pregnant. It is also defied as a situation where by a woman or female animal having a baby or an egg or a young animal developed inside her baby. Unwanted pregnancy on the other hand means the pregnancy which occurs as a result of illegal in evolvement in sexual intercourse by both sexes. It is said to be unwanted or illegal because both sexes have not been legally united either by law or Religions doctrine or authorities under the caption of marriage. Abortion is believed to be a deliberate ending or termination of a pregnancy at an early state. Marriage is said to be a relationship between a husband and a wife to live or co-husband as such for life Thus early marriage could be seen as any marriage contracted unintentionally or that which is contracted by way of duress or undue influence. Unfortunately, most young girls in secondary school in Nigeria today see to it that sex is a golden slice or a do or die affair and as such when at their dangerous stages or period, they still fail to keep boys or man at arm’s length which at long last leads to unexpected pregnancy. Hence proper arrangements or precautionary measure not put in place as regards such pregnancies. The next idea as the only option that readily come to their winds at this point is abortion through any means which most of the time take their lives or endanger lives in such situations. Norststill, most girls in secondary...

Words: 3752 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Chinese Cinderella Mother Teresa Quotes

...“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted are the greatest poverty.”- Mother Teresa. In Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, Mother Teresa’s words of wisdom apply to Adeline's life because throughout the book, Adeline feels isolated and unwanted, and Adeline always says how much she wishes to feel wanted. She feels lonely, undesired, but more lonely at home than at school. Mother Teresa’s words of wisdom about being lonely apply to Adeline’s life because feeling lonesome is something that Adeline is very familiar with. She is lonely when the girls at school leave, when Niang treats her like an outcast, when her siblings gang up on her, and countless other times. For example, in the book, Adeline knows she must not tell anyone how Father...

Words: 619 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Salvation Army Thrift Store Essay

...by selling donated used items such as clothing, housewares, and toys at a cheaper price for those in need (“History,” 2016). Like many other thrift stores, The Salvation Army thrift stores suffer from the increasing problem of waste disposal due to unwanted donations. While most people drop off easily sellable items, some donors are treating the thrift stores like garbage dumps, which forces the Salvation Army to pay huge amounts of money to dump its garbage. This has become a frustrating issue for the company as it decreases the support for the mission directed activities. To determine the best possible...

Words: 657 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Birth Control Reseach Paper

...The Possibilities of Birth Control Funding According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, nineteen percent of all pregnancies in America are unwanted, and twenty-three percent of pregnancies end in abortions (Eagle), with these statistics and political support the American government is pushing a bill for insurance to fund birth control and other preventative services. Funding would eliminate the need of a co-payment or fee for the pills and services that could help teenagers and women alike. Despite the argument of Roman Catholic religious officials, conservatives, and those who say birth control encourages promiscuity. Birth control is a very common method of family planning and in some cases goes beyond that. Birth Control and other preventative services should be free to women to prevent unwanted pregnancies, improve women’s success rates, and help prevent disease. Unwanted pregnancy is very controversial issues in today’s society, with limited options for the pregnant mother, abortion and keeping the unborn child is one of the hardest decisions. The abortion rate of those [unwanted] children is almost as high as the birth rate (Eagle). Despite the age old debate about abortion, it is believed birth control funding can lower the abortion rate due to a lower rate of unwanted pregnancies (Rovnier). Emily Stewart, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood says, "Without a doubt, when women have access to birth control, it reduces unintended pregnancies…" (Rovnier). Birth...

Words: 662 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Nozick's Arguments Against Distributive Justice

...This claim means that some people will be required/directed to work more than he/she would want to because others needs have not been met. Nozick’s next premise says that if people are being forced to do certain and/or unwanted tasks for a period of time than others will decide what their purpose is and this takes away from their ability to make their own decisions. Making people do unwanted task takes away from someone’s ability to make their own decisions. This is one of Nozick’s main reasons as to why the patterned principles of distributive justice causes people to lose their ability to make their own decisions because they are being directed to do an unwanted amount of labor. The conclusion to Nozick’s claim is that the principles of distributive justice will end up taking away one’s ability to make their own decision which makes them a “part-owner’ of people giving them property rights on you. This means that giving up one’s ability to make their own decisions provides others to gain part ownership over you. Giving up part-ownership provides others to own you as if they were a...

Words: 492 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Performance Management

...full consultation with the employees. The process of the policy development is as important as the policy statement itself. Joint work between employees and mangers helps to show what causes unwanted behavior, involving employees leads to to develops trust and confidence between employees and mangers. Policy awareness: policy awareness can help employees increase awareness of individual responsibilities. familiarity and understanding of acceptable behavior. recognition of continued commitment by senior management. Training: the success of dealing with the unwanted behavior initiative depends on a planned and systematic education and training program. The content of training programs must fit the needs of employees. Knowledge: explain the type of behaviors marked as unwanted behaviors. Describe what is reasonable and what is unreasonable behavior. Skill: how to recognize bad behavior. How to solve it quickly. Promoting healthy workplace environments: tensions can happen in any job, and in healthy organizational cultures those tensions can viewed as a good thing because it help change the working environment as needed. Mangers play an important role in implementing the rules against the unwanted behaviors. Guidelines for mangers to deal with unwanted behaviors: approach the employee directly before it can effect the business talk about options to reduce the employee stress. See other employees if they have same...

Words: 308 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Child Abuse

...Child dumping is the practice of dumping offspring outside of legal adoption.The dumped child is called a foundling or throwaway. According to a reliable statistics, one baby is dumped every week. A figure that has trebled in the past decades. Causes include many social and cultural factors as well as mental illness. One factor that leads to child dumping is teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is defined as a teenage or underage girl becoming pregnant.This pregnancy of teenagers are a mere result of the gratification of sexual urges. That pregnancy might not happen only if studies were prioritized rather than having relationships with the opposite sex. No premarital sex, no early pregnancy. Worst thing about this is that it is the child that will suffer. If not aborted, they are dumped by their biological parents. Another factor is the family break-up. Family break-ups happen after a long period of misunderstandings, fighting and unhappiness. Sometimes they happen suddenly and it is hard to understand why there needs to be change at all. Children are mostly affected by this kind of situation. If both their mother and father decided to a divorce and one cannot raise their child alone, tendency is that they will dump their child. This child will become homeless and found himself alone. Poverty is also another factor that causes child dumping. Persons in cultures with poor social welfare systems who are not financially capable of taking care of a child are more likely...

Words: 599 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Coral Reef Research Paper

...A current problem impacting the island of Tonga is the coral reef is being damaged. One solution to this problem is using our water supply for things we need and not for things not needed. According to coral reef.gov, the text states don't leave unwanted or nets in or out of the water. Any kind of litter pollutes the water and can harm the reef and fish. This shows that if people leave unwanted fishing gear on or off of the shore of Tonga or any kind of litter pollutions in the water, it can harm both the fish and coral reef. This shows that if people leave unwanted fishing gear on or off shore of tonga or any kind of litter will pollute in the water, and can harm both the fish and coral reefs. According to coral reef, the text states the...

Words: 416 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Abortion

...themselves or with an unprofessional approach. After 1973's Supreme Court decision, which allowed women to have the choice to abortion, thousands of women were saved. Abortion can save thousands of lives of women and thus, should remain legal in the United States. Imagine you have a balance beam. On one side you have the physical life of an infant and on the other you have the mental and emotional life of a mother and her unwanted child. Which side can we, as civil humans, claim as more valuable? Up to this current day, abortion has become an exigent issue that faces everyone nationwide. As a moral and ethical issue, abortion is a dilemma for society. Abortion was illegal before the 1973 Supreme Court decision in the trial of Roe v. Wade, but now that abortion is legitimate, women have the freedom and the choice to live their life the way they want to. Albeit, abortion is criticized by religious sects in America and some of the public, the practice of abortion should remain legal in the U.S. because it allows a woman to choose her destiny and prevents unwanted children. Definitions are essential to define in this issue. Abortion is the forcible removal of a developing baby from the womb of his or her mother, using surgical, mechanical, or chemical means. Medical definition holds that abortion is any termination of pregnancy before 20 weeks. Medically defined, abortion is the "end of a pregnancy before viability." Therapeutic abortion is the termination of pregnancy via the...

Words: 4404 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Pro Choice

...being female become an unbearable burden. Attempts to limit women's reproductive freedom are no more than a gambit to keep women "in their place"-- a gambit in the guise of religious moralism. True, the guise can run deep, and many so-called "pro-lifers" genuinely believe that killing a fetus is equivalent to killing a human being. But such religious feeling has no place in the public policies of a country that claims to separate church and state. In the words of Supreme Court justices O'Connor, Kennedy and Souter: "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." No one wants to plan an abortion. But the best way to prevent abortions is to prevent unwanted pregnancies: through sex education, improved distribution of birth control, and general empowerment of women to shape our own individual lives. I think one of the biggest problems with the abortion debate is that the two sides aren't in direct opposition. The pro-life movement seeks to...

Words: 860 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

The Gods

...reward program for punctuality to stop the unwanted absenteeism and tardiness in their company. “Absenteeism and tardiness costs US companies as much as $3 billion a year,” (Gerdeman, 2013) this is a deficit that can easily be fixed with consequences for unexcused absences and habitual tardy employees. Inked the perceived notion that all rewards programs improve morale around the work place. The study that was done took a laundry plant that had implemented a reward program for punctuality to stop the unwanted absenteeism and tardiness in their company. “Absenteeism and tardiness costs US companies as much as $3 billion a year,” (Gerdeman, 2013) this is a deficit that can easily be fixed with consequences for unexcused absences and habitual tardy employees. Inked the perceived notion that all rewards programs improve morale around the work place. The study that was done took a laundry plant that had implemented a reward program for punctuality to stop the unwanted absenteeism and tardiness in their company. “Absenteeism and tardiness costs US companies as much as $3 billion a year,” (Gerdeman, 2013) this is a deficit that can easily be fixed with consequences for unexcused absences and habitual tardy employees. Inked the perceived notion that all rewards programs improve morale around the work place. The study that was done took a laundry plant that had implemented a reward program for punctuality to stop the unwanted absenteeism and tardiness in their company...

Words: 301 - Pages: 2