This study, focused on five transgender and gay youth of color from San Francisco, explored how family problems, poverty, homophobia, and transphobia propelled them into homelessness and made gay-friendly spaces and resources especially meaningful to them. These young people describe seeking support in San Francisco's well-known gay enclave, the Castro District, to form community and find safety from a homophobic and transphobic world. This study also explored difficulties these youth face as homeless LGBTQ young people of color navigating this neighborhood, which is widely considered a safe haven for LGBTQ people. In the Castro, they experienced invisibility, police and community harassment, sexualization, and commodification. Finally, this article examined how participation in a visible gay neighborhood contributed to their vulnerability yet offered marginally housed transgender and gay youth of color an important space to explore their identities.
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Jen Reck (2009) studied this question.
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