Getty ImagesPart of the U.S. suicide hotline for LGBTQ young people said it will close soon after the Trump administration cuts funds.
The government accuses the “radical gender ideology” of services.
It said it will still fund the wider 988 suicide and crisis lifeline – a part of the LGBTQ youth choice – and all callers will receive “compassion and help.”
The Trevor project, an organization that helps run LGBTQ options, said the decision will have a harmful impact on vulnerable young people.
“Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,” said Jaymes Black, the group’s chief executive. He said his service was told to close within 30 days.
Mr Black added: “The government decided to cancel a bipartisan, evidence-based service that effectively supported a group of high-stakes young people in its darkest moments.”
The decision was proposed during International Pride Month, which celebrates LGBTQ culture and history.
The news is also issued ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld Tennessee’s ban on transition-related health care, which is aimed at identifying transgender minors.
General 988 Lifeline provides free mental health support via call, text or chat. It is funded by a subsidiary of the U.S. Health and Human Services Agency (HHS) (SAMHSA).
Currently, LGBTQ young people can select option 3 from the call menu to contact the counselor.
Samhsa said the remaining 988 lifeline services will be “focused on serving all helpers” after the changes, including those who previously chose to access LGBTQ youth services.
But the hotline will be “no longer LGB+ Youth Service” and omit “T” and “Q” which refers to transgender and queer people in the LGBTQ acronym, Samhsa wrote in a statement.
HHS officials last week proposed cutting 988 LIFEine’s LGBTQ youth services.
A HHS spokesperson described the option as a “chat service that encourages children to accept the ‘consultant’ radical gender ideology without consent or knowledge of their parents” in a statement to NBC News at the time.
The U.S. Congress passed legislation in 2020 requires the lifeline of 988 to provide services and employees to LGBTQ people and other high-risk groups, such as rural and Native Americans.
The legislation states that LGBTQ youths are “more than four times more likely to consider suicide, with one LGBTQ youth being one times more likely to commit suicide, and one-third of transgender youth reporting one times more suicide.”
The law gained bipartisan support – including Donald Trump, who then served in his first presidency and signed the bill into law.
According to the 988 Lifeline website, the LGBTQ community “has disproportionately risked suicide and other mental health struggles due to historical and ongoing structural violence.”
The Trevor project began providing services through 988 Lifeline in 2022, the organization said in a statement. In 2024, the organization said in a statement that it provided more than 231,000 crisis links. It said it will continue to provide its own independent service.
The decision to remove the 988 Lifeline-designated LGBTQ youth selection is driven by Trump’s push to cut services, support and access to federal transgender people.
He worked to end the policy on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the federal government, deeming such programs themselves discriminatory.
The president also ordered the evacuation of transgender soldiers from the U.S. military and issued an executive order that the U.S. recognizes only men and women of both sexes.
The U.S. State Department also announced that it will no longer allow applicants to choose “X” as the gender on a U.S. passport. Instead, transgender people must choose a “male” or “female” corresponding to the gender assigned at birth.
If you are troubled or desperate and need support, you can talk to a health professional or organization that provides support. Help details available in many countries can be found in Be-Bellighers worldwide. www.befrienders.org
In the UK, a list of organizations that can help is available on bbc.co.uk/actionline
