Helping LGBTQ Kids Find Their Voice

This trans teen was homeless on the streets — until music helped him find his voice and use it to lift up other LGBTQ kids.

Transcript

00:00I emancipated into homelessness like 68% of foster youth in California and I was homeless for about

00:06six years. That's how I learned to play the guitar because I didn't want to be a beggar

00:10and I wasn't going to be a thief, that's for sure.

00:30At the age of seven, I permanently entered foster care in Orange County, California.

00:38I bounced from placement to placement, about 28 placements between age 7 and 17.

00:43Got home one day and my bags were basically on the porch. It was a,

00:48you know, that's it. Good luck.

01:00Those are just the reported ones, you know. A year and 23 of those are people of color.

01:13I know I fear for my safety so that's why I'm so out because

01:17I rather fear for my safety than know I did nothing.

01:20When I was 14 years old, my mom passed away and she left me her guitar and I was at a group home.

01:32I picked up her guitar and I became more than a powerless child without a voice.

01:39I became a trans man with a voice and a former foster youth with a story.

01:50I choose love, I choose it every time.

01:58Because of using music as a platform, as a place to speak and do more than just music,

02:04that's important for me. The youth are our future and if I had it hard when I was a kid,

02:09there's no reason that the next generation and the next generation can't have it easier and easier.

02:14I just feel like it's our duty.