At The Trevor Project, everyone, from our Crisis Counselors to our Board of Directors to our donors and supporters, have personal stories that fuel their commitment to serving and protecting LGBTQ young people. As we celebrate Pride year-round, and we know that means sharing our stories to lift LGBTQ young people up. That’s why we’re so excited to share three more stories from our community of support.
Orlan Boston: The Trevor Project Board Member, EY Senior Partner and America’s Sustainability and ESG Market Leader
Why is The Trevor Project’s mission important to you?
I had always been inspired by the mission of The Trevor Project for many years. Having served on a number of LGBTQ and non-profit boards, I was very impressed with The Trevor Project’s staff and board, and jumped at the opportunity to join when I was approached by CEO and executive director Amit Paley.
The Trevor Project’s mission is important to me because it saves young LGBTQ lives on a daily basis — it doesn’t get much more powerful and impactful than that. I wish I had had The Trevor Project as a resource growing up, should I have needed it as a young LGBTQ person.
I’m very proud of the long standing strategic partnership between EY and The Trevor Project, and all my EY partners and colleagues who have supported The Trevor Project mission for more than a decade.
What is your story of pride?
My story of pride is one of reconnecting after a 3-year hiatus due to the pandemic, and to celebrate who we are as a community, while acknowledging we can never take our rights for granted. We must continue to fight for those rights, to preserve them, to expand them beyond our borders because LGBTQ rights are human rights. We must always remember that freedom to be who we are is a privilege here in the United States, but still an aspiration for others in many parts of the world.
Neil Vyas and Eric Lavis: Longtime Supporters of The Trevor Project (he/him and he/him)
Why is The Trevor Project’s mission important to you?
In a political climate that is seeing reinvigorated attacks on all parts of the LGBTQ+ community, we are especially alarmed by how LGBTQ+ young people — and trans youth especially — have become the targets of hateful and misleading legislation in too many states across this country.
We believe that LGBTQ+ youth deserve to have unburdened childhoods just like their peers with all the same hopes, dreams, and aspirations. But we realize that in many cases, due to unsupportive families or unfriendly governments, this is sadly not a reality yet. Trevor’s work is vital so that LGBTQ+ youth know, in those dark moments, that there are folks who do care about them and there are resources available to help them navigate through difficult and threatening situations they may be facing. We strongly believe in Trevor’s mission to give LGBTQ young people a welcoming, loving world to grow up in.
What is your story of pride?
We are expecting our first child together in the Fall of 2022. For us, pride means bringing a child into the world who will know from day one that they can be whoever they want to be, and that they are worthy of love no matter who they love or how they choose to identify.
We hope to instill a strong sense of self-love so that our child will never grow up thinking they are less than for any reason. And perhaps most importantly, we want to raise a human being who is an advocate for others, who seeks to empower their peers to live their most authentic lives too, and who stands up for others in the face of injustice and inequity.
Sue Cardenas-Soto is a Copywriter at The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people. If you or someone you know is feeling hopeless or suicidal, our trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386 via chat www.TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678-678.
