Of the thousands of kids who sleep on the streets of Los Angeles – the number one destination for homeless and abandoned youth in the US – a whopping 40% are LGBT boys and girls.
The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center is the only organization in Los Angeles dedicated to providing these kids with food, clothing, medical care and a warm bed.
They offer these young people, kicked out by their parents for being LGBT, the help they need to get off the streets and make it on their own.
Writer/director Trent Kendrick and producer Michael Fossat were so inspired and touched by a tour of The Center that they developed and produced a short film called Any Given Tuesday.
The film dramatizes a scenario that is all too real: parents find out son is gay and immediately kick him out of the house. He ends up on the streets and turns to prostitution and drugs and considers suicide.
The filmmakers have some star power to help drive home the point: Elton John and spouse David Furnish, actors Jamie Foxx and James Woods, television journalist Lisa Ling and reality TV stars Lisa Vanderpump and Bruno Tonioli.
The film so impressed acclaimed filmmaker Roland Emmerich, one of the Center’s largest donors, that he offered to host the film’s debut at an exclusive star-studded benefit dinner on Saturday (19 October) with co-hosts that include Emmy winners Jane Lynch and Ryan Murphy and Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black.