Trump administration orders LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline to close within a month

Independent

4 hours ago

President Donald Trump's administration has ordered the national LGBT+ youth suicide hotline to shut down next month, in a decision advocates called 'devastating.'
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will be closing the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services — also known as the 'Press 3 option' — on July 17, the agency said in a statement. The agency said it would no longer 'silo LGB+ youth services...to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option.'
The program first rolled out in 2022 as part of a government contract with The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention for LGBT+ youth. The program allowed callers to connect with counselors specially trained to assist LGBT+ youth up to 25 years old.
Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black called the move 'devastating,' adding that Congress can still move to reverse the decision.
'Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,' Black said on Wednesday. '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,' Black added. 'Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased.'
Since its launch in 2022, the 988 crisis line has provided more than 1.2 million people with life-saving, LGBTQ+-inclusive crisis services, according to The Trevor Project, which responds to nearly half of all calls and texts to 988 from LGBT+ young people.
Last year, The Trevor Project alone directly served more than 231,000 people through the program. The service for LGBT+ youth has received more than 1.3 million calls, texts or chats since 2022.
This comes after a budget plan from the Department of Health and Human Services leaked in April, indicating Trump's administration would slash all funding for the hotline's LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program.
Suicide remains the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 14, and the third leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds. The leading cause of death among young people is gun violence.
LGBT+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, according to The Trevor Project, which estimates roughly 1.8 million young LGBT+ Americans seriously consider suicide every year, and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds.
Ending services for LGBT+ youth through the crisis line 'will not just strip away access from millions of LGBTQ+ kids and teens – it will put their lives at risk,' Black said when the budget first leaked in April. 'These programs were implemented to address a proven, unprecedented, and ongoing mental health crisis among our nation's young people with strong bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law by President Trump himself.'
In 2020, during his first term in office, Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act into law, establishing the number 988 as a crisis hotline. The proposed budget would continue to fund the lifeline at 2024 levels, but it 'eliminates the 2024 Congressionally-directed set-aside within the 988 for Specialized Services for LGBTQ+ Youth,' according to the draft.
'In effect, the loss of this funding would result in a loss of resources we rely on to hire, train, and support crisis counselors – and to reach LGBTQ+ youth across the country amid growing demand for these life-saving services,' Janson Wu, The Trevor Project's vice president of advocacy and government affairs said in an April statement to The Independent.
Within his first days in office, the president signed several executive orders directly targeting LGBT+ Americans, including explicitly removing federal recognition of transgender people and upending civil rights protections intended to combat LGBT+ discrimination.
The administration has also upended access to gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth and moved to block trans athletes from competing in women's sports. Trump also directed the Department of Defense to remove trans service members from all branches of the military.
The Independent has requested comment from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [e-mail], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.