The Trevor Project, a national crisis and suicide prevention organization helping lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people, was started by the creators of this movie in response to the real-life issues faced by the main character. Before the film's first airing on HBO (in 1998), Celeste Lecesne, Peggy Rajski, and Randy Stone looked for a preexisting organization that they could cite in the credits as a go-to resource for viewers, but found that there was no such crisis line, so they founded the Trevor Hotline, which still (as of June 2021) operates as an around-the-clock call-in, text, and website helpline for LGBTQ youth who are in crisis, facing familial rejection, or considering suicide.