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I was particularly transfixed by this young man, Michael Nowak.
This young man was stronger than I could have been. He came out to his mother as a freshman in High School - which did not go well. She kicked him out of the house. For a year he lived on the street and continued to go to school. In some (minor) ways he was lucky. He was kicked out during the "occupy wall street" demonstrations and fell in with occupiers in Union Square. A kid kicked out of home right now doesn't have even that sliver of a "safe zone".
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Anyway, he finished High School, ended up living at home again - albeit it a tense situation. He worked as an intern with the ACLU focussed on the LGBTQ youth homelessness. It is said up to 40% of homeless teens are LBGTQ, abandoned by their families. He said that every day you have to decide not to give in to drugs, or alcohol, or selling yourself for somewhere to spend the night, or to buy dinner.
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I have heard much of the same Ali Forney Center in New York and the LA LGBTQ Youth Center in Los Angeles. I feel helpless a lot. Yesterday I was a little embarrassed at feeling helpless in the face of what these young people have done.