Trump administration removing 988 hotline service tailored to LGBTQ+ youth in July

Independent

5 hours ago

The 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will stop providing tailored support options to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults on July 17, according to a statement on a federal agency's website.
The decision preempts the Trump administration's 2026 budget proposal to cut funding for 988's LGBTQ+ youth and young adult services, and is raising alarm bells among LGBTQ+ advocates.
Federal data shows the LGBTQ+ youth program has served nearly 1.3 million callers since it started in September 2022. The services were accessible under the 'Press 3' option on the phone to by replying 'PRIDE' via text.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
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The decision was was made to 'no longer silo' the services and 'to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option," the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said in a statement dated Tuesday on its website.
News of the LGBTQ+ service shutting down comes as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors on Wednesday.
The Trevor Project said it received official notice Tuesday that the program was ending. The nonprofit is one of seven centers that provides 988 crisis support services for LGBTQ+ people — and serves nearly half of the people who contact the lifeline.
' Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,' Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black said in a statement 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.'
In its statement on the 988 decision, SAMHSA referred to the 'LGB+ youth services.'
Black called the omission of the 'T' representing transgender people 'callous.' 'Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased,' he said.
The Trevor Project will continue to run its 24/7 mental health support services, as will other organizations, and leaders of 988 say the hotline will serve anyone who calls with compassion.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 49,300 suicides in 2023 — about the highest level in the nation's history, based on preliminary data.
Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ youth are at higher risk of suicide, including a 2024 analysis by the CDC that found 26% transgender and gender-questioning students attempted suicide in the past year. That's compared with 5% of cisgender male and 11% of cisgender female students.
Young transgender people flooded crisis hotlines with calls after President Donald Trump was re-elected. Trump made anti-transgender themes central to his campaign and has since rolled back many civil rights protections and access to gender-affirming care.
Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 into law in October 2020.
The specific 988 subprogram for LGBTQ+ youth cost $33 million in fiscal year 2024, according to SAMHSA, and as of June 2025, more than $33 million has been spent on the services. The Trump administration's 2026 budget proposal called for keeping 988's total budget at $520 million even while eliminating the LGBTQ+ services.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to wrap SAMHSA and other agencies into a new HHS office called Administration for a Healthy America, where it would coexist with employees from other agencies responsible for chemical exposures and work-related injuries.
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