The Trevor Project Just Got a Massive Donation—$45 Million—Toward Helping the LGBTQ+ Mental Health Crisis
Every year, an estimated 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people in the U.S. seriously consider suicide—and they’re four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. It’s not their sexuality that makes them inherently prone to suicidality, but the stigma and mistreatment they face because of it.
Which is why it was a such dark day when the Trump administration announced, on July 17, that it was ending specialized support for young LGBTQ+ callers on the 988 national suicide prevention hotline.
The U.S. government “cut a literal lifeline,” Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black said at the time. “It’s unfathomable.”
Today, Black is hopeful again, thanks to the Trevor Project receiving a transformational gift—$45 million—from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The donation to the nation’s leading nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ youth is the largest it has ever received.
“This extraordinary contribution — the single largest one-time donation in our 27-year history — comes at a pivotal moment for our organization and the LGBTQ+ young people we serve,” Black said on the organization’s news blog.
Scott, whose fortune largely comes from ex-husband Jeff Bezos, had previously donated $6 million to the organization in 2020. “A $45 million investment in the Trevor Project reflects deep confidence in our mission, impact, operations, and long-term vision,” Black said.
The gift could not come soon enough, as the organization’s latest research found that the mental health crisis amount queer youth in the U.S. is worsening, with increasing rates of anxiety (up to 68% from 57%), depression (up to 54% from 48%), and suicidal ideation (up to 47% from 41%). Which shouldn’t be surprising, Black noted, considering that “LGBTQ+ young people in this country continue to face elevated levels of stigma and political rhetoric, which take a serious toll on their mental health and well-being.”
Trevor Project founder Celeste Lecesne thanked Scott on Instagram, writing, “So grateful to MacKenzie Scott for showing us what can be done with money to make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ young people. Keeping them alive seems the very least we can do, especially at a time when some others would rather see them silenced and disappeared from public life. Let’s keep making noise with our love and money.”
If you are raising a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender kid who needs support, head (or direct them) to the Trevor Project’s resources on coming out, allyship, mental health, and more.