Bea Arthur’s priceless gift to gay youth in NYC

What a wonderful gesture from a wonderful talent.

The late Bea Arthur, beloved by gays for her iconic roles of Vera Charles in Mame, Maude Findlay on Maude and Dorothy Zbonack on The Golden Girls, has left $300,000 in her will to a New York organization that aids homeless gay youth.

Miss Arthur, who died on April 25 at the age of 86, donated the six-figure sum to All Fornay Center which provides services to more than 1,000 youths each year. The center had previously announced plans to build a house for 12 young people that will be named after the two-time Emmy winning actress. The center currently has seven sites around the city that provides emergency and transitional housing.

“We are overwhelmed with gratitude that Bea saw that LGBT youth deserve as much love and support as any other young person, and that she placed so much value in the work we do to protect them, and to help them rebuild their lives,” Executive Director Carl Siciliano told the New York Daily News this week.

I gotta say, it moves me greatly that Miss Arthur realized the importance of this kind of work which is provided on the West Coast by the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. It’s sickening to think that parents who profess to love their children would turn their back on them because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. There is a real lack of unconditional love there, sadly.

Thank you Bea Arthur for helping to pick up their slack.