LGBTQ+ suicide risk rises as Trump cuts mental health services

Japan Times

2 days ago

Seventeen-year-old Elliot Schneider knows how vital mental health support can be.
The American teenager, who uses the pronouns they/them, was just 12 when they came out as non-binary following a battle with depression and anxiety. Without their supportive parents and community, they are not sure they would have survived.
"Going through female puberty was one of the most uncomfortable and confusing times in my life. I knew it wasn't supposed to be happening to me," Schneider said by video call from Austin, Texas.
At 15, Schneider lost a close friend to suicide, prompting them to become a mental health advocate for LGBTQ+ youth.
They are now terrified for their peers by the government's plans to slash the Health and Human Services Department's budget, which includes the elimination of specialised mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth at the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, reached by the three-digit short code 988. The LGBTQ+ hotline receives more than 2,000 calls a day.
Coupled with President Donald Trump's executive orders against the LGBTQ+ community, such as ending non-binary recognition and banning gender-affirming care for people under 19 years of age, the loss of such a service could be fatal, Schneider said.
"These changes are going to lead to the deaths of many, many LGBTQ kids, especially transgender kids," Schneider said.
"If people can't get access to their gender-affirming care anymore, they will be so uncomfortable in their bodies, they think that not living is better."
'Shortsighted and dangerous'
The 988 line was launched in the United States in July 2022, after Trump signed the bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Designation Act into law during his first term in 2020.
Its specialised LGBTQ+ service connects people under the age of 25 with trained counsellors 24 hours a day.
The Department of Health and Human Services' preliminary budget, made public in April, revealed the LGBTQ+ service would be dropped, although funding for 988 would continue. If the budget is approved by Congress, the service will end in October.
"The president's budget funds the 988 at $520 million — the same number as under Biden," Rachel Cauley, communications director at the White House Office of Management and Budget, said by email.
A same-sex marriage supporter holds a rose to mourn those who died of suicide in Taiwan after discrimination during a parliament vote on three draft bills of a same-sex marriage law, outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on May 17, 2019. |
REUTERS
"It does not, however, grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by 'counsellors' without consent or knowledge of their parents."
On May 13, more than 100 members of Congress sent a letter, urging Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr to reject the proposal to end 988's services for LGBTQ+ people, calling it a "shortsighted and dangerous plan".
The letter said the LGBTQ+ hotline receives 2,100 calls per day and has been contacted more than 1.3 million times since 2022.
Alejandro Jimenez de Ferry, a 20-year-old trans student from San Antonio, Texas, called a mental health helpline when a friend attempted suicide at age 13.
"People don't realize the many ways suicide hotlines help people. Even waiting on hold can be so important," said Jimenez de Ferry by phone.
"Just having just a second to speak to somebody really is able to quite literally talk you off the ledge."
Around 90% of LGBTQ+ young people reported that politics, including rising anti-trans rhetoric, has impacted their well-being, according to a survey published by The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention charity for LGBTQ+ youth, in January.
"LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers — not because of who they are but because of how they're mistreated and stigmatised," Janson Wu, vice president of advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project said.
"Anti-LGBTQ+ bullying, discrimination and violence play primary roles in elevating the risk for suicide."
'Trauma and stress'
Since returning to office in January, Trump has signed executive orders to curb LGBTQ+ rights, many of which directly impact young people, such as blocking federally funded schools from teaching about "gender ideology," banning gender-affirming care under the age of 19 and preventing trans female students from participating in girls' and women's sports at high schools or universities.
This year the United States is on track to introduce a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ laws, with rights groups counting a total of 575 as of April.
"There's been a pretty sharp increase in the intensity of the conversations at each meeting we have," said Hannah Edwards, director of Transforming Families, a peer-support group for trans and non-binary children and their parents in Minnesota, considered a "trans refuge state" for its laws that protect the community.
"There's a lot of trauma and stress coming from outside sources."
LGBTQ+ groups are also struggling with loss of funding in 2025 as Trump's push against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies encourages companies to pull back on sponsorships.
It Gets Better, a storytelling organisation created following a wave of suicides among LGBTQ+ youth, said it relies on corporate support for 75% of its funding, but had seen "major brands" reduce their backing.
Suicide rates in the United States peaked in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up 3% from 2021.
The rising number shows helplines are not enough, said Brian Wenke, director of It Gets Better.
If defunding 988's LGBTQ+ services "is going to happen, we have to look at it as an opportunity to do better," Wenke said.
"Affirming schools, inclusive education, supportive media — all reduce suicide risk. Young people are more resilient when they know they are not alone."
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 119 in Japan for immediate assistance. The TELL Lifeline is available for those who need free and anonymous counseling at 03-5774-0992. You can also visit telljp.com . For those in other countries, visit www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html for a detailed list of resources and assistance.