Published January 18, 20182 min read
Welcome to the latest edition of Ask a Genius, our regular series of interviews with brilliant people. Today we're featuring Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people, including through a 24/7 telephone hotline, online chat and text messaage. Hundreds of thousands of young people in crisis have reached out to the Trevor Project since its founding in 1998.
I lead The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people.
We’re dedicated to ending suicide amongst LGBTQ youth.
I’m gay and know what it’s like to feel alone and hopeless.
Our work is entirely impact-focused, making sure we are helping as many LGBTQ youth as possible when they are in crisis or contemplating suicide.
Expand our life-saving services globally so every single LGBTQ youth in the world would have access.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among all young people in the U.S., and gay, lesbian and bisexual youth are nearly five times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers. Transgender people are at even higher risk.
Double the number of LGBTQ youth we are serving in the next year, and reach every LGBTQ young person in the world who needs us over the next decade.
My partner Jonathan. He is both a genius and a saint.
You can help LGBTQ youth by supporting The Trevor Project, both financially with donations and by volunteering on our crisis services. You can learn more about both at www.thetrevorproject.org.
Another way is to make sure you are being an ally to LGBTQ young people you know, by providing them with messages of support and letting them always know that they are not alone.
This interview was lightly edited for clarity.
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Image: The Trevor Project
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