The Trevor Project says Trump ending LGBTQ+ option from suicide lifeline will hurt Texas kids
Content Warning: This article discusses suicide. Please return to the homepage if you are not comfortable with the topic.
If you are in distress and need someone to talk to, please call 988, text HELLO to 741741, or visit the crisis hotline's website. For LGBTQ-specific support for ages 13-24, call The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386 or text START to 678-678.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — President Donald Trump has directed the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, to no longer offer LGBTQ+ youth options on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline starting July 17, which the agency announced in a Tuesday press release.
"The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer silo LGB+ youth services ... to focus on serving all help seekers," its release said. "Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress."
The agency's use of LGB+ harkens to attempts by anti-trans activists to excise transgender people from the larger queer community. Trump has also used the shortened acronym in several executive orders that target transgender people.
The Trevor Project, a crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, will still be available. CEO Jaymes Black called the decision "devastating" in a press release.
"Suicide prevention is about people, not politics. 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," Black said. "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."
Jackson Budinger, senior director of communications for The Trevor Project, spoke with KXAN's Will DuPree during our 4 p.m. broadcast Friday about what this change will mean for youth.
"Since its inception and launch in 2022, the 988 LGBTQ+ youth specialized services network has served more than 1.3 million young people. We serve about a half a million young LGBTQ+ people each year," Budinger said. "988 will still be available for generalized care ... but this message is going to discourage [youth] from reaching out to 988 to begin with."
She noted that the Trevor Project saw a 72% spike in calls following the SAMHSA announcement.
"That's not Texas-specific, but nationally," Budinger said. "This is a wakeup call. We need more people speaking out for this tailored care. Young people need to remember there are so many people who are in your corner."
A spokesperson for Trans Lifeline, a crisis hotline supporting transgender people, said that their service is "grassroots funded" and will not be directly impacted by the services. Trans Lifeline released a report in November 2024 detailing its criticisms of the 988 system. However, the spokesperson said the loss of LGBTQ+ specific services was bad for the nation and community.
"It needed reform but it was also a helpful service," the spokesperson said. "We expect its closure will impact our call volumes."
The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, issued a press release Wednesday, and its CEO Daniel H. Gillison, Jr. said that the 988 hotline was "one of the most impactful mental health and suicide prevention innovations in recent years."
"As we mark Pride Month, we at NAMI are incredibly disheartened that the Administration has announced the elimination of these services for America's LGBTQ+ youth, a community that tragically is at high risk for suicide."
NAMI's release noted that around 10% of all 988 calls, texts and chats used the hotline's LGBTQ+ option. Half of those calls went to The Trevor Project.
"In 2024 alone, The Trevor Project directly served more than 231,000 crisis contacts, and trained and supported nearly 250 crisis counselors and operational support staff to support the 988 Lifeline," said The Trevor Project in its release.
Celebrities, including Dwayne Wade, Jamie Lee Curtis and Pedro Pascal, signed an open letter calling for the service to remain.