A part of a US national suicide prevention hotline that caters for LGBTQ young people says it will soon close, after the Trump administration cut its funding. The administration has accused the service of "radical gender ideology". It says it will still fund the wider 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - of which the LGBTQ youth option is one part - and that all callers will receive "compassion and help". The Trevor Project, an organisation that helped to run the LGBTQ option, said the decision would have a harmful impact on vulnerable young people. "Suicide prevention is about people, not politics," said Jaymes Black, the organisation's CEO. He said his service had been told to close within 30 days. "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," Mr Black added. The decision comes during international Pride Month, which celebrates LGBTQ culture and history. The news also arrived ahead of a US Supreme Court decision on Tuesday that upheld the state of Tennessee's ban on transition-related healthcare for minors who identify as transgender. The general 988 Lifeline offers free mental health support via call, text, or chat. It is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a subsidiary of the US Health and Human Services Agency (HHS). Currently, LGBTQ young people can select option 3 from a call menu in order to connect with counsellors. After the changes, the remaining 988 Lifeline services would "focus on serving all help seekers", including those who previously chose to access LGBTQ youth services, SAMHSA said. But the hotline would "no longer silo LGB+ youth services", SAMHSA wrote in a statement, omitting the "T" and "Q" that refers to transgender and queer people in the LGBTQ acronym. Officials at HHS proposed cutting the 988 Lifeline's LGBTQ youth services last week. In a statement to NBC News at the time, an HHS spokesperson described the option as a "chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by 'counselors' without consent or knowledge of their parents". Legislation passed in 2020 by the US Congress required the 988 Lifeline to provide services and staff specifically for LGBTQ people as well as other at-risk groups like rural and Native Americans. The legislation noted that LGBTQ youth were "more than 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their peers, with 1 in 5 LGBTQ youth and more than 1 in 3 transgender youth reporting attempting suicide". The law received bipartisan support - including from Donald Trump, who was then serving his first presidential term, and signed the bill into law. According to the 988 Lifeline website, LGBTQ communities are "disproportionately at risk for suicide and other mental health struggles due to historic and ongoing structural violence." The Trevor Project began providing its services through the 988 Lifeline in 2022. In 2024, it served more than 231,000 crisis contacts, the organisation said in a statement. It says it will continue to provide its own independent services. The decision to eliminate the 988 Lifeline's designated LGBTQ youth option comes amid Trump's push to curtail services, support, and access for transgender people across the federal government. He has pushed to end diversity, equity, and inclusion policies (DEI) within the federal government, arguing that such programmes are themselves discriminatory. The president has also ordered the removal of transgender servicemembers from the US military and issued an executive order that the US would only recognise two sexes – male and female. The US Department of State also announced it would no longer allow applicants to choose "X" as their gender on US passports. Instead, transgender individuals must choose "male" or "female" corresponding to their sex assigned at birth. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org In the UK a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
Trump ends funding for LGBTQ youth option on national suicide hotline
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"Trump Administration Cuts Funding for LGBTQ Youth Services in National Suicide Hotline"
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TruthLens AI Summary
The Trump administration's recent decision to cut funding for the LGBTQ youth option of the national suicide prevention hotline has raised significant concerns among mental health advocates and LGBTQ organizations. This funding cut is set to close the service, which has been instrumental in providing support to vulnerable young people, particularly those who identify as LGBTQ. The administration has labeled the service as promoting 'radical gender ideology,' despite the fact that the hotline, known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, is designed to offer compassionate support to all individuals in crisis. Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, which helped manage the LGBTQ youth option, expressed that the decision is not only incomprehensible but also detrimental to a high-risk demographic that is already disproportionately affected by mental health challenges and suicidal ideation. The timing of this cut is particularly striking as it coincides with international Pride Month and a Supreme Court ruling that restricts access to transition-related healthcare for transgender minors in Tennessee.
The 988 Lifeline, which provides mental health support through calls, texts, and chats, will still be operational but will no longer feature a specific option for LGBTQ youth. Instead, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) stated that the remaining services would aim to serve all help seekers without specifically addressing the unique needs of LGBTQ youth. This shift has raised alarm among mental health professionals, especially given the statistics indicating that LGBTQ youth are significantly more likely to contemplate suicide compared to their peers. The legislation passed in 2020, which mandated tailored services for LGBTQ individuals, received bipartisan support, including from Trump himself while he was in office. The Trevor Project reported that it provided over 231,000 crisis contacts in 2024 alone and plans to continue offering its independent services despite the funding cut. The recent actions by the Trump administration reflect a broader trend of limiting support and recognition for transgender individuals across various federal policies, raising further concerns about the impact on mental health and well-being for these communities.
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