Golden Girl and gay icon Bea Arthur honoured with LGBTI homeless shelter namesake

ACTRESS Bea Arthur’s legacy will continue beyond The Golden Girls after it was announced this week that an LGBTI youth homeless shelter would be named in her honour.

The 18-bed Bea Arthur Residence in Manhattan was named after the actress because of a generous donation of $300,000 that she left in her will to the Ali Forney Centre, an organisation dedicated to providing shelter for LGBTI homeless youth in the US.

Arthur, who died in 2009, had been a long supporter of the organisation having raised $40,000 for the centre in 2005 from her one-woman show Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends in New York.

According to The Huffington Post, New York City Council have donated $3.3 million to renovate the building and will open its doors to help homeless LGBTI youth next year.