Credit: Lisa Vanderpump
Lisa Vanderpump, star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Vanderpump Rules, has kicked off Pride Month by working with The Trevor Project in an all-too important Public Service Announcement (PSA) that everyone needs to see.
The Trevor Project, for those who aren’t in the know, is a non-profit organization that focuses on the suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth.
They operate The TrevorLifeline through its toll-free number where trained counselors are available 24 hours a day to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention for members of our community aged 13-24.
Footage from Lisa, 58, filming the PSA was released exclusively to Instinct Magazine the morning of Monday, June 3. It took place at her residence in Beverly Hills that she shares with her husband Ken Todd.
Lisa’s involvement with The Trevor Project goes beyond providing information. It’s on a much more personal level for her due to her brother Mark passing from suicide last year. She spoke about that in the clip, telling staff members that “I have an understanding of the devastation that radiates through a family.”
Lisa also asked them about how many calls The Trevor Project receives daily. “Over the course of the year its about 75,000,” Dana, an officer with The Trevor Project, responded. “And it really speaks to why what you’re doing right now is so important because when a youth in crisis has one person that they feel like supports them it has an incredible benefit to them.”
“Sometimes people don’t realize that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” Lisa said in the confessional. “When this happens there are so many broken hearts left behind. So many people that could’ve been there.”
I spoke with Lisa exclusively about her working with The Trevor Project and why her being a straight ally for our community is so immensely important.
“To me it’s a difficult world to live in as is,” she said. “As a straight ally to the gay community, I take it very seriously and I understand still that things aren’t where they should be.”
“I think that it’s very important being a straight ally, and I’ve connected to many people over the years through reality television, through supporting Pride, through officiating same sex marriage, through being a spokesperson for GLAAD, and I take it very seriously that I think youngsters in the LGBTQ community are something like three or four more times likely to commit suicide than their straight counterparts.”
“And to me that’s a sad state of affair when one in four youngsters are thrown out on the street when confronting their parents about their sexual orientation.”
If you in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe place to talk, call The TrevorLifeline now at 1866-488-7386 or visit https://www.thetrevorproject.org/.
