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34 The College of New Jersey Magazine to build trust and rapport with young people so if they are in a moment of crisis, they say, 'I'm going to call The Trevor Project. I trust them.'" According to the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention, death by suicide is the second leading cause of death among 10- to 24-year-olds. The risks increase significantly for LGBTQ youth, who are four times as likely as their peers to attempt suicide. The Trevor Project's 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 42% of LGBTQ youth aged 13–24 1.8 million # of LGBTQ young people in the United States who consider suicide each year seriously considered suicide the pre- vious year, including more than half of those who identify as transgender and nonbinary. Wong emphasizes that LGBTQ identity itself doesn't lead to higher rates of suicide or negative mental health outcomes; instead, the problem is society's often hostile reaction to it. LGBTQ youth may experience rejec- tion from family members, bullying from classmates, violence, and discrimination. In 2021, The Trevor Project's crisis counselors served 220,000 people who reached out in text messages, online chats, and calls to the hotline. But the organization's research estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youths in the United States seriously consider suicide each year. "It is a heartbreaking statistic," Wong says. The Trevor Project is currently tracking nearly 200 anti-LGBTQ legis- lative efforts across the country, including measures to ban trans- gender athletes from school sports and a recently passed bill in Florida bar- ring primary schools from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity. The fight to implement these policies further harms LGBTQ young people, Wong says, by sending "the message that they shouldn't exist." Wong is fueled by a sense of urgency, and his own understanding of how easy it is to feel alone. Like many LGBTQ individuals, he had his own suicidal thoughts when he was a teen. "I remember holding a pair of scis- sors up to my wrist once," he says. "I didn't attempt suicide, but the thought was there, the questioning was there. 'Do I deserve to be here?'" Growing up in Howell, New Jersey, Wong realized he was gay during middle school. His family was close, and Wong never doubted that he was loved. But he'd heard enough homo- phobic comments to make him Jay Huang '23

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