Trevor Project Honors Actor

There were two obvious things being celebrated Monday night at Capitale, where the Trevor Project was holding its annual benefit.
The Trevor Project, founded in 1998, is devoted to increasing acceptance and preventing suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Its fund-raiser may also be one of the few in New York City where several pairs of men's 2xist underwear were up for silent auction.
The first thing being celebrated was the 21-year-old actor Daniel Radcliffe, currently starring in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" on Broadway and soon to appear in movie theaters in the final installment of the Harry Potter films, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2." The second was the right to gay marriage in New York.


Let's start with Mr. Radcliffe, who a few years ago, lent his name to the organization and made a public-service announcement on its behalf.
"He actually found us," said James Lecesne, one of the founders of the organization. (It was started after a film called "Trevor," about gay youth, premiered on HBO, and someone suggested an 800-number hotline appear at the end of each showing.) "He's really able to see outside his purview." Mr. Lecesne said that he was a "moderate Harry Potter fan, but I'm caught up with all the films."


Mr. Lecesne's co-founder, Peggy Rajski, a film professor at NYU, was slightly more fanatical about the series. "I think they're almost spiritual," she said. "I have a first edition of every book."


Mr. Radcliffe said that being connected to the Trevor Project was one of the most rewarding elements of his young life thus far, "and I look forward to helping it anyway I can for the rest of my career." He was given the "Hero" award from the organization, and said one of his personal heroes had been Alexander the Great, conceding that "no one has done more for gays in the military." Mr. Radcliffe urged guests at the party, somewhat earnestly, to "go boldly and honestly through the world. Honesty is the most heroic quality in life."


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