LISTEN: Ali Forney Center Founder Carl Siciliano Thanks JMG Community In Excerpt From Coming Book [AUDIO]

Back in February, I reported that Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano had penned a coming book. From the Penguin Random House press release:

Carl Siciliano met Ali Forney—a Black nonbinary teenager overflowing with life—in 1994 while working at a daytime center for homeless youth in New York City. Nineteen years old and driven from home, Forney was the heart of the community, known for infectious laughter, fierce loyalty to friends, and an unshakeable faith in their essential human value.

Then Forney was murdered, a moment of horror and devastation that exposed the brutality that teenagers like Forney faced in a city marked by gentrification, housing insecurity, and the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic. Motivated by the memory of Forney, Siciliano fought to create a home where unhoused teens could live and feel loved.

In MAKING ROOM Siciliano shares what he learned from Forney and thousands of other queer teens—wounded, brave, vibrant people who lived true to their inner experiences and created family under desperate circumstances—while he helped lead a movement that compelled New York City to invest millions of dollars in kids who’d been ignored for decades.

MAKING ROOM includes dozens of never-before-told stories of the lives of disowned LGBTQ teens, which read like cinematic, absorbing vignettes. Siciliano’s voice and advocacy are a rudder of wisdom and affection, guiding readers to connect both with themselves and this compelling world of queer, homeless youth.

The release date is next Thursday, May 21st, and you can pre-order the book right now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, and other major booksellers.

Today, the publisher sends us an excerpt from Carl’s audiobook reading in which he praises the JMG community for coming to the rescue of the Ali Forney Center during a particularly tough time. Listen below.


Excerpted with permission of Penguin Random House Audio from Making Room: Three Decades of Fighting for Beds, Belonging, and a Safe Place for LGBTQ Youth by Carl Siciliano; Read by Carl Siciliano © 2024, Carl Siciliano ℗ Penguin Random House, LLC.

The post LISTEN: Ali Forney Center Founder Carl Siciliano Thanks JMG Community In Excerpt From Coming Book [AUDIO] appeared first on Joe.My.God..