Today the LGBTQ group invited Charles King of Housing Works to speak to the class. He is the director and founder of that organization and he told us the story of how he came to create Housing Works.  He also told us about when he was discovering his own sexuality. He told us that while there has been a lot of progress in United States concerning enabling LGBTQ rights and recognition, particularly in New York, homophobia is an issue that we as a society still need to address.
According to Mr. King, 50% of NYC’s homeless are part of the LGBTQ community. This high percent is attributed to homophobia at school or most often church and family. Mr. King said that there is an epidemic of HIV, occurring most in young men and young transgender women. Transgender youth are 50% more likely to get HIV. There is only one way to fight discrimination : whether people are LGBT, questioning or straight, they must be open and willing to except to have close relationships with people who are different, and interesting and maybe not always accepted in community. Some people contribute to the stigma by staying hidden. Mr. King said that he started Housing Works in 1990. Before he told us about Housing Works he told us of when he was discovering his sexuality. In that time it was a sin and considered the worst possible thing in the world to be gay. Charles King worked as an ordained Baptist minister. After a time working in the church he organized a support group for LGBT members of the community. He told them god accepts you for who you are, but  that god’s people might not. Soon he realized that he himself was gay after working in many homeless shelters and LGBT enabling organizations. After traveling and working with homeless shelters Mr. King told us that he became a pastor in New Haven for three years. He learned more about HIV through newspaper stories, and about a story of a local female prostitute who had HIV and was infecting many white New Haven males. Mr. King realized that this women worked near his church and was part of the church’s Sunday meal program. The woman died soon after and Mr. King begged the church to give her a proper burial. as a result the church started burying HIV victims and said to the public that they had died of cancer to avoid the stigma. Mr. King said that many families in New Haven would rather say that their child had died of HIV by injection drugs than admit they were gay. Charles King met a priest in the community who was dying of HIV and asked him if he could pray for him as he died. The priest said that it wouldn’t do any good because he was gay, and died. Charles resigned as priest and joined a New York City church group. In his first sermon he told the congregation he was gay and said the same thing he had told his old church group; that god loved them and that He had nothing to forgive them for.
He stayed for 6 months created a AIDS group. At that time in NYC there were only 200 units for people with AIDS and 2,000 living with AIDS in NYC. If you were HIV positive you had to have a HIV diagnosis to get help. To get into a house you had to prove that you have been clean and sober for 90 days.  Soon after Charles started Housing Works the the thrift shop was born. Charles King said that of there is one thing that well to do New York people love, that’s good bargains. Housing Works made design stores that would appeal to people with high profit.  Now there are 14 thrift stores all over New York.  Housing Works supports 8,000 people per year.  They are even running a campaign to end aids as an epidemic by 2025.  Mr. King told us that the most rewarding able to watch people transform their lives, and helping them do it.  The LGBTQ group hopes very much to be able to work with Housing Works again and volunteer with them.  We would also like to again thank Charles King for coming to speak with the class. It struck me how much effort Mr. King has put into his work for the betterment of LGBTQ communities everywhere, and how he will always try to change unfair and unequal.