05-05-2025
Trump administration wants to cut 988's LGBTQ+ youth line. Baldwin vows to fight for it.
The Trump administration intends to cut funding for a specialized line dedicated to LGBTQ+ youths and young adults on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, according to a leaked budget proposal reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
All calls to 988 connect people in need with a crisis counselor, but two high-risk groups, military veterans and LGBTQ+ youths, were identified early as requiring a more culturally sensitive approach. Just as veterans may feel more inclined to open up to someone who has lived through the experiences of war and active duty, LGBTQ+ youths may also express themselves more authentically to someone who understands what it means to be queer.
Those calls are staffed by people who understand the issues facing LGBTQ+ youths, such as discrimination and the complexity of family support. They also can connect callers to support and resources tailored to LGBTQ+ people.
Having a specialized line for LGBTQ+ youths, too, increases the likelihood that a young person will reach out if they're experiencing a crisis, said Mary Kay Battaglia, executive director of NAMI Wisconsin, which stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness.
"It makes it much more comfortable, knowing you're going to talk to someone that understands the stressors you're going through," Battaglia said.
LGBTQ+ youths are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, according to the Trevor Project, a national nonprofit focused on suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ young people. Research from the nonprofit estimates that at least one LGBTQ+ youth attempts suicide every 45 seconds in the United States.
In step with national trends, Wisconsin's youths continue to struggle with their mental health, but conditions like anxiety, depression and suicidal thought disproportionately impact the state's LGBTQ+ students. The 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which surveys high schoolers across Wisconsin, has found lesbian, gay and bisexual youth have the highest rates of mental health concern.
A separate survey focused on trans youth in Wisconsin shows that this population has even higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thought, despite making up just 4% of the student population.
DHS emphasized over email that these elevated mental health conditions do not stem from their sexual orientation or gender expression, but rather, how LGBTQ+ people are treated, whether due to bullying, discrimination and/or societal and family rejection.
These mental health concerns have been exacerbated by ramped-up rhetoric on the federal level that denies the existence of transgender and gender nonbinary youths. A 409-page report published May 1 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has gone as far as to dismiss the need entirely for gender-affirming care in young people who experience gender dysphoria.
"The LGBTQ community is under more political attack than we've seen in years," U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That a lifeline for those in crisis would be taken away is outrageous."
The news organization reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for comment, but did not hear back.
Baldwin, a Democrat who was responsible for the creation and congressional enactment of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, has championed additional funding for the three-digit crisis line, which launched in July 2022. Of the more than $400 million allocated nationally for fiscal year 2024, a little more than $33 million went to the LGBTQ+ youth line.
The elimination of a specialized crisis line for LGBTQ+ youths would further chip away at a program that federal cuts have been slowly eroding. February's cuts, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, hobbled Veterans Affairs, and included the termination of 15 employees who operate the Veterans Crisis Line, the specialized 988 Suicide and Prevention line dedicated to veterans.
After Baldwin became aware of those fired employees, she urged Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to reinstate them.
"We do believe the folks who were laid off have been reinstated, but it takes constant vigilance with this administration because they have been running roughshod with their personnel and funding actions," Baldwin said.
By the end of February, the Department of Health and Human Services slashed 10% of SAMHSA, which funds the 988 Lifeline. By the end of March, the federal health agency stripped $1 billion from SAMHSA in federal grants allocated to states during the pandemic, and fired another 10,000 employees.
This slashing away of SAMHSA appears to have served as a prelude to HHS' restructuring plan to roll the mental health agency into a new agency within HHS called Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA.
Baldwin has vowed to fight against the elimination of 988's specialty line for LGBTQ+ youths, emphasizing that it is Congress, not HHS, that decides how funding is spent. Similarly, Baldwin said she would take action to preserve SAMHSA, which not only oversees 988 Lifeline but substance abuse and mental health programs across the country.
If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741.
Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@ or view her X (Twitter) profile at @natalie_eilbert.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump administration wants to cut separate LGBTQ+ line for 988 callers
