In many societies being young and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender can lead to homelessness and a first step into a harsh reality that can often lead to drug use, prostitution and illness.
Filmed over seven years, Susi Graf’s intensely moving documentary follows a group of young LGBT people living rough on the streets of New York City. Most of them are living a vagrant life because they’ve been thrown out of their homes for being who they are. Many find themselves turning tricks to survive and become emotionally lost; others find self-esteem and a new family structure in the vogueing balls of the city’s queer underground (the film features one of the legends of the scene and Paris is Burning, the late Willi Ninja) .
Graf’s documentary reveals the incredible courage of these young people who, despite the cards life has dealt them, still work towards finding a place of freedom and dignity for themselves.
After the film, a panel with representatives from LGBT and homeless advocacy groups will put the issues raised in the film into a local Irish context.
This screening and panel discussion is presented in collaboration with the BeLonG To Youth Project.
USA | 2009 | 75:00 | Director: Susi Graf