News & Press
Read relevant news and press about the Free To Be Youth Project and the youth we serve.
We’re interrupting cycles of poverty and criminalization to help homeless and street youth live fulfilling lives free from discrimination, abuse and oppression.
Resolution or Regression? The Fight for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Our Schools
City Limits
"This past year we have seen our fragile bubble come under siege by a deliberate, dogged campaign to dismantle the rights of queer students in school" - FYP Project Director Amy Leipziger.Leave The Vanderbubble, We Need Collective Action Now More Than Ever
Vanderbilt Hustler
“Our organization, the Free to Be Youth Project, believes the key to this collective action can begin by bridging this gap between urban and rural queer advocacy...To that end, we are partnering with the Oasis Center in Nashville to bring support and resources to queer and questioning youth."Honorees Bring Determination And Perseverance To The 2024 Gay City News Impact Awards, Presented By Bethpage Federal Credit Union
Gay City News
“’Being recognized by Gay City News is incredibly important and validating because [there have] been so many ups and downs [since COVID-19],’ said Amy Leipziger, the Project Director for the Free to Be Youth Project.”We Must Support LGBTQ Youth and ‘Fight the Power’ in the Trump Era
Gay City News
"Adam [is] a young transgender man that came to us because his food stamps had been erroneously cut off, leaving him few options to support himself. Had we not stepped in, he would have had difficulty obtaining food sufficient to survive on.”Oasis Center Partners With Free to Be Youth Project
Chilling The Right To An Education: Combatting Policies Hostile To LGBTQ Youth
NYC Bar Assc
Project Director Amy Leipziger and Legal Fellow Ashton Hessee discuss The Free to Be Youth Project, and how it provides crucial direct legal services to unhoused LGBTQ youth, empowering them to navigate systemic challenges.Equitable Dress Codes for TGNCNBI Students in NYC Schools
NYC City Council Committee on Education Hearing
Read FYP's City Council Testimony regarding the DOE's dress code policies. While these policies are intended to 'protect students' education,' biased interpretations of this language have sexualized and criminalized students, particularly trans and cis girls, TGNCNBI students, students of color, and low-income students.Mayor Adams Appoints Ronald Porcelli As Director Of NYC Unity Project
Harlem World
“On behalf of the Free to Be Youth Project, we are pleased to congratulate Ronald on this appointment,” said Amy Leipziger, project director, Free to Be Youth Project. “Ronald has dedicated their career to uplifting the needs, and voices, of the diverse LGBTQ+ community in New York City."The Cost of Being Myself: Cosmetics and Gender-Affirming Care
Ms. Magazine
"From physical safety to job security, how your present yourself to the world is critical. To transgender and other LGBTQ+ youth...beauty products like makeup or haircare are neither optional nor frivolous expenses." -Op-ed by Amy Leipziger, Director, Free to Be Youth Project
NYC Schools Must Meet the Needs of LGBTQ+ Youth
City Limits
“By not requiring schools to have genders and sexualities alliances, or pushing for inclusive curriculum in all schools, the DOE is refusing to take important steps proven to increase the health and safety of students.”New Yorkers Deserve a Strong Human Rights Commission
City Limits
"Mayor Eric Adams’s current budget contains even more cuts to the commission which do nothing but create unnecessary harm to everyday New Yorkers." Co-written by Amy Leipziger, Director of Free to Be YouthHomeless Trans Youth Are More Than Just Statistics — We’re Fully Realized People
Teen Vogue
"I also fall under some of many other statistics: I’m among the up to 40% of homeless youth in the US who identify as LGBTQ+. I’m one of approximately 8,400 queer youth in New York City who are homeless." - Co-written by Davina Hayes & Free to Be Youth Project Director Amy LeipzigerNo Child Left Behind: Except queer youth.
The Margins
Though addressing school-based practices is not a global solution for the other adverse childhood experiences for LGBTQ+ youth, it can be a start towards creating a safe space for those in need.Opinion: City Policies Are Harming New York’s Homeless Youth
City Limits
“If Mayor Adams truly wants to make good on his promises to stem the homelessness crisis in the city and provide substantive mental health to the city’s youth, he must first make it easier, not harder, to access safe and affordable housing.”Watch Your Language: How A School District’ our Language: How A School District’s Failure To Provide Meaningful Communication Has Impacted Students During the Pandemic
BYU Education & Law Journal
"Watch Your Language: How A School District's Failure To Provide Meaningful Communication Has Impacted Students During the Pandemic." By Amy Leipziger
Shaking the Tree: Using Advocacy to Push School Districts to Meet Their Obligations Under Title IX
Harvard Journal of Law & Gender
"Shaking the Tree: Using Advocacy to Push School Districts to Meet Their Obligations Under Title IX" By Amy LeipzigerNYC Bar Association Annual Pride Reception and Arthur S. Leonard Award Honors PCYP Attorney
Yahoo
PCYP's Nadia Qurashi honored with the Arthur S. Leonard Award by the NYC Bar AssociationRyan Murphy Donating All His “Pose” Profits To LGBT Charities
Ryan Murphy will donate POSE series' profits to LGBT charities, including PCYP. He states, "I need to do more than just making a show for this community. I want to reach out and help this community.”
TV Show Creator Ryan Murphy To Donate 100% Of His Profits From “Pose” To LGBTQ Charities
As Murphy posted on Twitter, POSE's 2nd Give Back Org of the Day: The Peter Cicchino Youth Project.
American Bar Association Launches National Homeless Youth Legal Network
PCYP identified as a model program by the Americn Bar Association's Homeless Youth Legal Network.
Why Trans Youth Are More at Risk for Deportation
“What Trump would like to see happen is people who are simply accused of a crime placed in immigration detention," says Nadia Qurashi of PCYP to Teen Vogue.
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40 Rector Street, 9th FloorNew York, NY 10006
Telephone: 877-716-1446
Email: fyp@urbanjustice.org
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