When we arrived, and my mother had filled out some paperwork, we were given two boxes and told to take whatever we could fit into them. I couldn't believe we didn't have to pay for it. My mother handed the boxes to my sister and me and together we walked around this small mountain of food - my mother pointing to things she wanted, my sister and I carefully packing the boxes so we could fit in as much as possible. Even as a small child I understood that money was tight in our home, and food was expensive. Sometimes it's a little hard to admit, even now, because I still feel the stigma that is attached to poverty in this country.
Poor people are, well, trash.
We lived on welfare and food stamps for many years, even though my mother always had a full-time job. But as is true for millions of parents today, full-time work doesn't always mean there will be enough food on the table, or enough money to keep the lights on, or the rent paid. Since numbers of that magnitude are hard to grasp, imagine every single person in California living in poverty. Because poverty and hunger are gay issues. Though the media depicts gays as universally wealthy, a significant chunk of the GLBT community lives on or below the poverty level, and you don't have to look far to find them.