ProgressivePulse.com had the honor of attending the Trevor Project’s Summer Gala in New York City on Monday night.  Held at the fabulous Capitale (130 Bowery Street, NY NY), the event is one of the key gatherings of the site to not only celebrate the hard work that the organization is doing but to also continue raising funds to keep it running strong.  As the only 24-hour suicide prevention line for LGBTQ youth, the support can never be enough but Trevor is saving lives and spreading their word of help nationwide.

Caroline Rhea

Galvin Creel

Hosted by the hilarious Caroline Rhea (in a fabulous Valentino dress) who joked about her weight even though it’s now been eight months since the birth of her child.  Rhea is one of those comediennes who feels like your best friend standing up on stage talking about life, celebs or the large number of great looking gay men assembled in support of the Trevor Project.  Rhea did an entertaining set of jokes to start off the evening.

First up was Gavin Creel, most recently nominated for Best Male Actor in a Musical for the current Broadway revival of Hair.  Creel was accompanied by Canadian singer Robbie Roth on guitar as they sang a wonderful, inspiring song, For Nancy, which was just as fitting for the Trevor Project mission.

Cheyenne Jackson, Lance Bass & Francisco Armenta

The handsome pairing of Cheyenne Jackson and Lance Bass was next as the men introduced the three winners of the Colin Higgins Youth Awards, which honors three LGBTQ youths who have overcome personal challenges only to triumph and show the rest of the world that anything is possible.  The winners this year were Francisco “Frank” Armenta, Jr (age 21), Lance Hicks (19) and Terra Tempest Moore (22).  Each of the winners spoke with emotion and showed just how much passion they have for their lives.  It’s no doubt that we’ll more than likely hear a lot from these empowered young people in the future.

Judy Gold

Judy Gold was on hand with her hilarious comedy, which covered everything from her being a Jewish, lesbian comic to her biting stories about dealing with her overbearing mother.  Mark Consuelos and Carson Kressley also were on hand to introduce moments during the evening.

Executive Director and CEO of the Trevor Project, Charles Robbins talked about the work that the Trevor Project is doing including the “I’m Glad I Failed” school program and the new TrevorSpace social network exclusively for LGBTQ youth.

Caroline Rhea returned to the stage with more comedy and to play auctioneer for three great prizes with proceeds that would go to reach the $25,000 goal that had been set to raise during the Summer Gala.  Besides an Ugly Betty walk-on speaking role, there were also two great trips that were snatched up by eager auction bidders!  While the auction almost reached the goal, the donation cards that were collected after the show undoubtedly helped them push beyond the mark.

CNN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell accepted the Trevor Commitment Award, which, according to the event’s booklet, “annually recognizes a company or organization that, through its policies, initiatives, and other efforts demonstrates a commitment to LGBTQ causes and is a prominent, public example of corporate acceptance of individuals regardless of sexual orientation.”  From the reel of LGBTQ coverage that CNN has included in it’s daily programming over the year, they are truly worthy of this award.

Jewel Performs

Jewel was then introduced and blew the roof off the Capitale with her powerful rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and her classic song “Who Will Save Your Soul” was just as meaningful as ever, especially in regards to the reason the Capitale was filled with Trevor Project supporters.

Finally, as if the night hadn’t been emotional enough, Gavin Creel amusingly revealed his crush when he introduced the winner of the Trevor Hero Award, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.  As if you didn’t know, Black wrote the Academy Award winning film, Milk and is striving to bring more awareness as well as provide an example through volunteerism and/or occupation to LGBTQ youth.  Like his Oscar speech, Black was eloquent, passionate and inspiring with the lengths that the gay community has gone to get where they are today but how the work is not done and gay youth is definitely a group that still needs our attention.  Progressive Pulse was there to record the speech so you can hear his empowering words, too.

Dustin Lance Black: Audio Speech Below!

As always, the Trevor Project put on a great show and, without beating the message over our heads that it’s all about donations, made everyone in attendance want to give support in whatever way possible.  Can’t wait for next year’s event! To find out more about the Trevor Project including information about suicide resources, volunteering and donating check out their website: www.thetrevorproject.org