Entertainment
Cyndi Lauper & Friends “Home for the Holidays” – Dec 3, 2016 (New York City)
New York City is a great place to visit anytime of the year, but around the Christmas holidays, and certainly New Year’s Eve, it’s simply magical. Now there’s even more reason to head to The Big Apple this holiday season. Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Fund recently announced the lineup for its 6th annual “Cyndi Lauper & Friends: Home for the Holidays” benefit concert on Saturday, December 3 at New York City’s historic Beacon Theatre, to raise awareness about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth homelessness. 100 percent of the net proceeds from the concert will support the True Colors Fund’s programs.
Cyndi Lauper will be joined on stage this year by Aloe Blacc, Ballets with a Twist, Big Thief, Billy Corgan, Grace VanderWaal, Judy Gold, Kate Bornstein, Maya Jupiter, Oxymorrons, Sara Ramirez, Sharon Van Etten, Theresa Caputo, Tyler Glenn, and host Carson Kressley. Additional guests will be announced soon.
“For the sixth year, ‘Home for the Holidays’ will bring together an incredible group of performers to support the True Colors Fund’s work to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth,” said Lauper, the organization’s co-founder. “Our voices are stronger when we say something together. I’m so grateful to the artists, who are donating their time and talent to bring attention to this very important cause.”
In America, up to 40 percent of the 1.6 million youth that are homeless each year identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Yet, less than seven percent of the general youth population is LGBT. The most cited reason for this disproportionate rate is family rejection due to the young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Co-founded by Cyndi Lauper, the True Colors Fund works nationally to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Through a broad continuum of public engagement, public policy, youth collaboration, research, and community organizing programs, the True Colors Fund is creating a world in which young people can be their true selves.
Some highlights of the True Colors Fund’s work this year include:
- Hosting the second annual #40toNoneDay, a national day to raise awareness about LGBT youth homelessness, which reached over 98 million people online.
- Partnering with The White House to conduct a Policy Briefing on Youth Homelessness to help prioritize the needs of youth experiencing homelessness within the Federal Government.
- Launching the National Youth Forum on Homelessness, a youth-led project focused on ending youth homelessness in America, in partnership with the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
- Releasing At the Intersections, the most comprehensive resource on LGBT youth homelessness, in partnership with the National LGBTQ Task Force.
- Holding the third annual sold out 40 to None Summit, the only national annual gathering focused on innovative solutions to end LGBT youth homelessness in America.
- Training it’s second class of True Fellows, young LGBT leaders with experiences of homelessness, who conduct six-month service projects in their communities.
- Releasing its second annual 40 of the 40 list, which highlights 40 LGBT young people who have experiences with homelessness and provides them with opportunities to engage in the organization’s work.
- Providing free tools, resources, and training through its 40 to None Network for service providers and communities around the country to aid them in providing safe, inclusive, and welcoming support to LGBT youth experiencing homelessness.
“Home for the Holidays” is proud to have the support of: Platinum Sponsors Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Van Gogh Vodka; Gold Sponsors The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and Jujamcyn Theaters; Silver Sponsors Kinky Boots, The Madison Square Garden Company, Masie Productions, Reveal, Stifel, and Keith Bell, Licensed Acupuncturist.
ABOUT THE TRUE COLORS FUND
Grammy and Emmy award-winning artist and advocate Cyndi Lauper co-founded the True Colors Fund to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Through a broad continuum of public engagement, public policy, youth collaboration, research, and community organizing programs, the True Colors Fund is creating a world in which young people can be their true selves. www.truecolorsfund.org
For more information please visit Home For The Holidays. Tickets at Ticketmaster
About the Author
Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.