Ali Forney
| Ali Forney | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Ali He'shun Forney April 12, 1975 Charlotte, North Carolina, United States |
| Died | December 5, 1997 (aged 22) Harlem, New York City, New York, United States |
| Known for | Transgender advocacy |
Ali He'shun Forney (April 12, 1975 – December 5, 1997) was an African-American gay and transgender youth who also used the name Luscious.
He was a peer counselor of and advocate for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth and was killed on the street in the Harlem neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth, located in New York City, was named after him when it opened in June 2002.
Forney was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, by a single mother. He said that he first became a prostitute at 13, and that the $40 made him feel rich "like Donald Trump." Rejected by his family, at 13 he was put in a group home, from which he soon ran away. He was in a series of foster placements, but found the streets preferable. He continued to work as a prostitute, often in women's clothing. He admitted to using crack cocaine "because it eased the degradation and fear of selling himself."He was arrested and jailed many times.
When he was 17, he joined the Safe Horizon Streetwork program, where counselors helped him acquire a Social Security card and a medical card. He completed his GED and, at the time of his death, had started to work with the staff to help other homeless youth. When he turned 18, he received a settlement for a childhood car accident, but he remained estranged from his family and was ineligible for city youth shelters after his 19th birthday.
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