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Cyndi Lauper to Open True Colors Residence, a Shelter for Gay Youth

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(April 8) -- Singer Cyndi Lauper is opening New York City's first permanent housing for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

The True Colors Residence is set to open next year in Harlem and will provide young people age 18 to 24 a place to live while helping them get back on their feet, DNAinfo reports.

“Kids are coming out in greater numbers as they see themselves accepted and represented on TV and in movies, but they’re still being kicked out of their homes or running away and living on the streets," Lauper said in a statement Tuesday.

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Roger Kisby, Getty Images

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Pop singer Cyndi Lauper, through her foundation, is building Manhattan's first permanent shelter for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. The True Colors Residence will open next year in Harlem. Here she attends the fifth annual Focus for Change benefit dinner and concert in New York on Nov. 11, 2009.

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People Doing Good

Pop singer Cyndi Lauper, through her foundation, is building Manhattan's first permanent shelter for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. The True Colors Residence will open next year in Harlem. Here she attends the fifth annual Focus for Change benefit dinner and concert in New York on Nov. 11, 2009.

Roger Kisby, Getty Images

Roger Kisby, Getty Images

The '80s pop singer, known for her hits "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "True Colors," will donate money for the facility through her True Colors Fund, is an honorary board member and is championing and promoting it.

New York City has 15,000 to 20,000 homeless youth, according to estimates from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Roughly 3,000 to 8,000 of them are LGBT, or comprising 20 to 40 percent homeless youth in the city, the Task Force said.

The six-story building will contain 30 studio apartments, a communal space, a library and a computer room. It's expected to cost about $11 million. Residents will sign a yearlong Section 8 lease and pay rent according to their income.

Lauper has long been a supporter for gay rights. Last month, her True Colors Fund launched the Give a Damn Campaign, an initiative to spur straight support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. The campaign will include a series of videos featuring Lauper and friends such as Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Mraz, Cynthia Nixon and Anna Paquin, Tonic reported.

Cyndi Lauper to Open True Colors Residence, a Shelter for Gay Youth.

Troops question impact if gay ban is lifted

(via WVEC)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Troops attending the first meeting of its kind on ending the ban on gays in the military said Tuesday they want to know what changes were in store for them if gays were allowed to serve openly.

Picked at random and assembled in the Pentagon auditorium, about 350 rank-and-file troops asked the leaders of a new working group whether bunking arrangements would change and if the spouses of gay personnel would be given military family benefits, among other issues.

The answers to those questions aren't expected until the end of the year, when the working group releases its findings on the impact openly gay service might have on the force.

Officials say they will spend the next several months reaching out to troops and their families in focus groups and meetings like the Tuesday forum to determine what concerns they'll have to address.

Attendees of the Tuesday session said that one female Marine stated that bunking with a lesbian would be the same as being told to share a room with a man. A soldier said he didn't want to wade into the political debate and that he would follow orders.

Another service member asked if a gay service member who gets married — now forbidden under law — would receive military family benefits.

At one point, a moderator asked how many troops believed they have served with a gay person. About half the people in the audience raised their hands.

Attendees described the meeting on condition of anonymity because they said they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

President Barack Obama has called on Congress to lift the ban. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said a repeal of the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy is inevitable. But he says he wants to do it in a way that would mitigate any risk to unit effectiveness.

Accordingly, Gates has assigned his chief legal counsel, Jeh Johnson, and Army Gen. Carter Ham to lead a working group on the subject. The results of their review are due Dec. 1.

One issue officials have been wrestling with is how to gauge the opinion of gay service members without forcing them to break the law by disclosing their sexual orientation.

Officials say it is likely that a third party will be hired to help survey the force and reach out to gay troops.