The Trump administration has ordered the National Suicide Prevention Hotline to stop offering support for LGBTQ individuals through the 988 Lifeline. Since its launch in 2023, the line has helped around a million people in preventing suicide.
The Trump administration believes the service fosters gender ideology beliefs and convinces them of a belief that the Trump administration doesn’t agree with. Previously, the administration has said there are only two sexes, effectively denying the existence of trans people in the United States. This fits with the administration’s challenging of LGBTQ+ people’s access to health care, specifically with gender affirming care.
According to The Trevor Project, suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people from ages 10 to 14 and the third leading cause for individuals aged 15 to 24. LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide, with more than 1.8 million youth seriously considering it each year in the U.S.
Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, responded to the administration’s reversal of the Biden-era policy.
“This is devastating, to say the least,” Black said. “Suicide prevention is about people, not politics. The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible. The fact that this news comes to us halfway through Pride Month is callous – as is the administration’s choice to remove the ‘T’ from the acronym ‘LGBTQ+’ in their announcement. Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased.”
For queer people who need help, they can still use other hotlines, with other LGBTQ+ oriented call centers listed below.
The Trevor Project: (866) 488-7386
Crisis Text Line: text START to 741-741
The LGBT National Hotline: (888) 843-4564
Trans Lifeline: (877) 565-8860
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