Finding a Safe Space: Prioritizing Safety Considerations for Trans Youth in the Portland Homeless Youth Continuum
Sarah Taylor-Nanista, MPP, Humphrey School of Public Affairs

Finding a Safe Space: Prioritizing Safety Considerations for Trans Youth in the Portland Homeless Youth Continuum tells the story of a youth kicked out of her house for identifying as transgendered. The case begins with an explanation of gender variance and transgender identity, differentiating between "sex" and "gender." The youth arrives to Portland, Oregon just as the County has adjusted a Civil Rights Ordinance adding discrimination based on sexual orientation to the state's list of protected categories.

Because the homeless youth services were predominantly funded by a contract with Multnomah County, contract implementation needed to be in alignment with the governmental rules and procedures. The administration within each agency created a committee to address the need to adapt to the new county ordinance. Favor Ellis, a middle level manager within the homeless youth continuum of services, is faced with the task of adjusting services in a way that will make services safe for both transgender youth, non transgender youth, and an administration resistant to change. She is forced to consider how to make their services more accommodating to transgender youth, while considering staff concerns with the safety of those youth who have backgrounds of sexual assault and may fear sharing a room or a bathroom with a youth born their opposite sex. The reader is invited to decide how to adapt services.