Health

Advocates Say ‘Really Vulnerable Lives’ at Stake as Trump Administration Moves to Shutter LGBTQ+ Suicide Prevention Line

The Trump administration is shutting down an LGBTQ+ suicide prevention hotline.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will close its specialized services program for LGBTQ+ youth on July 17.

The administration has said the proposed budget would not grant taxpayer money to a chat service “encouraging children to embrace radical gender ideologies.” The administration said the services will be folded into the main suicide prevention line.

Soon after its launch in July 2022, the 988 Lifeline included a subnetwork for LGBTQ+ individuals to connect with specialized services, in which people dialing 988 are given the option to press 3 to reach crisis counselors trained to work with LGBTQ+ youth and adults under 25.

According to the latest data from SAMHSA, more than 14.5 million people have called, texted or sent chats to the 988 Lifeline and have been transferred to a crisis contact center since July 2022. Nearly 1.3 million of those were routed to the LGBTQ+ specialized service.

“We know LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to commit suicide than their youth counterparts,” said Precious Brady-Davis, a commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. “Youth deserve people who understand what it’s like to come out. It’s support services, it’s resources, it’s comfort, it’s someone telling them it’s OK to be who you are.”

The administration said in a statement that everyone who contacts the 988 lifeline will continue to receive access to crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. The 988 standard line will now be in charge of handling the calls that the LGBTQ+ service would have received.

“When we think about the scores of young people, particularly the LGBTQ community and more narrowly the trans community, who attempt suicide yearly, I would like to see the data that supports such an assumption,” said Channyn Lynne Parker, CEO of Brave Space Alliance. “I would not want to test that theory out especially when it comes to really vulnerable lives.”

According to data collected from The Trevor Project, most LGBTQ+ young people of color reported higher rates of attempting suicide than their White peers in 2022. The organization surveyed more than 28,000 LGBTQ+ young people and found 11% of White youth attempted suicide, compared to 22% of Native/Indigenous youth, 16% of Black youth, 15% of Latinx youth and 10% of Asian/Pacific Islander youth.

Black transgender and nonbinary young people report the highest rates of suicide risk — with 58% seriously considering suicide and 25% attempting suicide in 2022.

“There is a lack of support,” Parker said. “There is a lack of resources. There is just an overall encouragement for this community, whether spoken or unspoken, to go away.”

The SAMHSA statement notably removed the letter ‘T’ from the LGBTQ+ acronym and instead referred to the group as LGB+. ‘T’ represents the transgender community.

“From the inauguration we saw President Trump say that there are only two genders, that gender nonconformed youth don’t exist,” Brady-Davis said. “What is it like to be a trans person in this country at this time? They are literally trying to erase trans young people.”

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors in a 6-3 decision.

“This administration has blood on its hands and we’re not going to stand for it,” Brady-Davis said.

Despite this upcoming cancellation, advocates say there are still several resources and mental health services provided for LGBTQ+ youth.

“We have to go back to grassroots methods,” Parker said. “We have to open our own hotlines. We have to open our doors. We have to be available for these young people.”

CNN contributed to this report.

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