by Autumn Johnstone
The 988 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will no longer be providing specialized support to LGBTQ+ youth considering suicide, effective July 17, although in 2024, about 40 percent of LGBTQ+ individuals in the U.S. considered attempting suicide. The federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced this on June 17.
While the 988 Lifeline will continue to provide services for those who seek help, LGBTQ+ individuals are left without personalized support from those who share similar life experiences.
What malignant act of insensitivity it is to rip that support away from those that desperately need it. The difference between a counselor who has personal experiences that reflect yours and a counselor who simply says they know what you’re going through, is night and day. There’s a connection between two people who have undergone similar trauma or mental health struggles that allows for better communication, active listening and effective help.
Without that connection, it will be difficult for LGBTQ+ individuals to reach out to the Lifeline, let alone feel understood. The reason the LGBTQ+ community needs support from those who can empathize with them is because being queer is something that has been marginalized throughout history by those who don’t understand what it feels like to be judged for something you cannot control.
There were many times in my life where I needed to depend on another queer person for help. Speaking with them about their mental health struggles or simply existing alongside them allowed me to realize that what I was experiencing was, in fact, survivable. Being queer means you will be the minority, but that doesn’t mean you have to be treated differently. One 988 Lifeline call could be the difference between life or death for some LGBTQ+ individuals.
The fear of being overlooked as an LGBTQ+ individual has become a rational thought because of the Trump Administration. Rather than viewing the LGBTQ+ community as people, their lives have been reduced to political talking points. More than 1.3 million people will be impacted by the detrimental closure of the LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program.
Saving lives should never be up for debate. It’s a part of being human, where it is our duty to be kind and understanding to those who need it without caring about how we can profit. Today, we see very little of that under a cold, authoritarian administration. Instead of accepting the fact that society can outgrow traditions, the Trump administration pushes for two genders as incontrovertible reality. They cherry-pick “facts” and call that scientific reality, ignoring mountains of evidence contradicting their chosen narrative.
As a result of the 988 Lifeline’s loss of specialized support for LGBTQ+ youth, The Trevor Project will be deeply impacted. This organization depends on federal funding to provide lifesaving resources for LGBTQ+ youth through crisis services, peer-support, advocacy, education and research. The Trevor Project handles almost half of the 988 Lifeline’s specialized LGBTQ+ support, but by July 17, that will no longer be the case.
While The Trevor Project will continue to offer 24/7 mental health support for LGBTQ+ youth following that date, it is uncertain to what extent the Trump Administration might cause significant budget shortfalls for their organization.
According to The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, 90 percent of LGBTQ+ young people said their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics. The Trump Administration’s policies that led to the 988 LGBTQ+ Lifeline being eliminated aim to silence the LGBTQ+ community at an alarming rate.
They justify their actions against transgender individuals with gender ideology and rationalize LGBTQ+ endangerment by calling queer experiences “woke indoctrination,” but in reality, being queer has never been about politics. It’s who we are and what we have always been. No administration can take that away, but they will definitely try.
Jeopardizing vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth by dismantling evidence-based methods teaches the public that LGBTQ+ individuals do not deserve the help they need. Yet, this couldn’t be further from the truth. This community is in dire need of help, with a near 700 percent increase in contacts with The Trevor Project since the 2024 Presidential Election.
By Oct. 1, the Trump Administration’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026 plans to cut funding entirely for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services. In order to protect the 988 Suicide Lifeline for LGBTQ+ Youth, sign this petition by The Trevor Project at: tinyurl.com/Iguana2212.