This 13 Yr Old Rock For LGTB
13-year-old Noah Hornik was so bothered by gay stigma that he organized a concert in San Francisco. (CBS)
In the San Francisco Bay Area, 13-year-old Noah Hornik is combining his love for indie music with a passion for equality.
Noah has heard many stories about teens in the Bay Area commiting suicide after facing anti-gay bullying. He also witnessed hate speech on the Internet against students his own age, as well as seeing his home state of California pass Prop. 8, which overturned same-sex marriage rights.
With so much hate around him, Noah decided to take steps to raise awareness. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he explains, “Between the suicides, (anti-same-sex marriage) Prop. 8 and what I was seeing online, I realized we needed to take this further…These kids are my age.”
Noah is planning a benefit concert to support LGBT youth suicide prevention (see his video here). The concert is called “It Gets Indie,” and it features music from Rabbit! and the Handshakes (Noah is an indie music enthusiast — he writes the blog Indie Rock Kid and he also has a Myspace page dedicated to indie music with over 87,000 followers.)
Noah is right to be concerned with suicide among LGBT teens. As reported by The Trevor Project, LGBT youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight colleagues. More than 1/3 of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth have attempted suicide.
Although he does not identify as gay, Noah has dedicated himself to the fight for LGBT rights. He founded his middle school’s gay-straight alliance, the Rainbow Connection, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The proceeds from Noah’s concert will go to The Trevor Project and the It Gets Better Project. Both organizations support LGBT youth and advocate for safe spaces for youth to express themselves.
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