The Trevor Project provides crisis and suicide prevention across the nation through their around-the-clock hotline and their online website. It is the only organization of its kind to provide 24/7 support through a phone lifeline, fielding tens of thousands of calls every year.
The organization was founded by James Lecesne, Peggy Rajski, and Randy Stone, the makers of the film Trevor, detailing the life of a gay 13-year-old boy who tried to commit suicide after facing rejection from his friends. The filmmakers realized that many people across the world are going through the same struggles seen in the movie, and that there needs to be a support lifeline for these people. When they discovered that no such lifeline existed, they established the Trevor Project in 1998, the first suicide prevention lifeline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning youth.
The mission of the organization is to have a positive impact on LGBTQ youth, to create awareness and acceptance in the school and home settings in order to reduce rejection by peers and family, to advance schools’ suicide prevention policies, and to spread awareness of the organization as the only lifeline for crisis intervention.
Besides the lifeline, the Trevor Project has online programs on its website, including TrevorSpace, a social networking site for the LGBTQ youth; TrevorChat, an online messaging service with volunteers; and Ask Trevor, an online Q&A. These programs create a positive environment for youth to feel safe asking questions about sexual identity and connect with other youth of the LGBTQ community.
Tracey Tran, ’13, expresses her support and compares two prominent organizations, It Gets Better and The Trevor Project, “Unlike the “It Gets Better” videos, which only provides a short-term effect since the people who make it are just sitting in front of their computers and not taking any real action (although the organization has good intentions), the Trevor Project shines with its ability to directly connect with the people in need of help, especially with their 24-hour, 365-day hotline. That plus “Ask Trevor” and The Lifeguard Workshop Program are just few of the many ways the Trevor Project take action to letting the LGBT community know that people are there for them, which is the most important thing.”
Last week, on Sunday the 4th, the organization held its annual Trevor Live benefit event in the Hollywood Palladium. Amy Poehler was the emcee and performances featured big names like Kris Allen, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, Darren Criss, Miley Cyrus, Amber Riley, JC Chasez, and Mary J. Blige.
Lady Gaga was chosen this year as the Trevor Award Honoree for “being an inspiration to youth and increasing visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community.” The artist recently started her own Born This Way Foundation to empower youth in accepting themselves and others for who they are.
Lady Gaga was introduced to the stage by Chris Colfer, a prominent gay actor and activist, and the family of Jamey Rodemeyer, a gay teenager who committed suicide in September of this year after struggling through harassment and bullying from his peers.
She accepted her award saying, “This award means more to me than any Grammy I could ever win.”
She also expressed her growing concerns of schools not taking enough action in contributing to the effort of creating physically and emotionally safe environments for teens, and was in complete shock at the fact that Jamey Rodemeyer’s school has not implemented any policies or made any changes in response to Jamey’s suffering.
Jamey’s story is one out of the hundreds of teens of the LGBTQ community who commit suicide as a result of epidemic of bullying and rejection.
