The Trump administration will be shuttering a dedicated suicide prevention and crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ individuals next month, according to health agencies.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which operates as part of the Department of Health and Human Services, says the hotline will be closed effective July 17 and the services it provided will be made available as part of the broader 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
The agency says the money allocated in 2023 to run the hotline has been spent.
"On July 17, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer silo LGB+ youth services, also known as the “Press 3 option,” to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option," the agency wrote. "Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help."
"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," said Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black. "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. Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased."
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The Lifeline has served more than 14 million crisis contacts since it was launched as free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
According to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, over 1.2 million of those crisis contacts have been specifically for LGBTQ+ support.
If you need to talk to someone, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
