[a] Set in 1981, the film follows what happens to 13-year-old Trevor, a Diana Ross fan, when his crush on a schoolmate named Pinky Faraday gets discovered.

In 1995, it tied for an Oscar for Best Short Subject with Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life at the 67th Academy Awards.

[3] In 1998, director Peggy Rajski brought fellow filmmakers Randy Stone and Celeste Lecesne together to found The Trevor Project, a 24/7 crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.

His diary, with the boy he has a crush on's name on it, is found by one of his friends and shown to the whole school.

Trevor tries to take his life by overdosing on aspirin in his room while listening to Diana Ross, commenting "Everybody at school thinks I'm a gay.