Tag: suicide

Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Restore LGBTQ Youth Crisis Hotline Services

If you or a loved one are in crisis, please call or text 988 or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a live volunteer crisis counselor.

Read more at OutSmart Magazine.

Sens. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, and Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, introduced a bipartisan bill on Wednesday to re-establish national emergency suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth — which have been stripped by the Trump administration at a time when the vulnerable group needs it most. 

In July, the Trump administration terminated the 988 hotline’s LGBTQ+ services, which connected young people in crisis with counselors trained in supporting LGBTQ+ youth. This new bill, backed by the LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization Trevor Project as well as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, would modify the Public Health Service Act to reinstate those services and require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to maintain them. The bill now moves to committee.

The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people seriously consider suicide each year in the United States, as they face high rates of bullying, assault and discrimination. And when the 2024 presidential race was called for Donald Trump, calls and texts to the Trevor Project’s own crisis hotlines spiked by 700 percent, as LGBTQ+ youth felt afraid about the outcome of the election. 

“Given that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, the need for these services remains pressing,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, in a statement. “This is not about politics, or identity; this is about doing what is best to support our country’s highest risk populations — and save young people’s lives nationwide.”

During his first term in 2020, President Trump signed a bipartisan law to create 988 as a more accessible resource for mental health emergencies. The free hotline launched in July 2022. Since then, millions of people in crisis have turned to 988. And nearly 1.5 million of those calls, texts and chats were sent by young Americans seeking specialized LGBTQ+ services. 

“We are in the middle of a mental health crisis, and the 988 lifeline saves lives, plain and simple,” said Baldwin, who wrote the original legislation to create the 988 hotline. Cutting funds for specialized services within 988 puts the lifeline in jeopardy, she said in a statement. 

“There is absolutely no good reason that Donald Trump took away this specialized help for our LGBTQ youth. Mental health does not see partisan lines or geography,” the Wisconsin Democrat added.

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Bipartisan House coalition demands RFK Jr. reverse Trump’s plan to end LGBTQ+ suicide prevention hotline

*This is reported by The Advocate.

A bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers is urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to block the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate the LGBTQ+ youth services within the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline—an emergency support network that has served more than 1.3 million contacts since its full implementation in 2023.

The Wednesday letter, signed by Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, New York Republican Michael Lawler, Massachusetts Democrat Seth Moulton, and Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Pennsylvania, calls on Kennedy to stop a 30-day phaseout announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on June 17. According to internal agency guidance, the LGBTQ+-specific branch of the hotline, which allows callers to “press 3” to connect with affirming counselors, is set to be dismantled by July 17, according to SAMHSA.

“This is not some kind of hotline set by a liberal Democratic administration,” Krishnamoorthi said in an interview with The Advocate Thursday morning. “It was actually signed into law by President Trump. Various Republicans in the Senate and the House supported it.”

Since the line became fully operational in 2023, he noted, “it has received an astonishing 1.3 million calls, texts, and other forms of communication” and was “averaging 2,900 contacts every day” as recently as February.

Krishnamoorthi, who serves as a ranking member of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, raised the issue sharply during a Wednesday hearing on diversity, equity, and inclusion policy rollbacks. “In the name of expunging DEI, the Trump administration has lurched from the farcical to the cruel,” he said, highlighting the crisis line’s termination as an especially harmful example. “These actions are wrong, but do not compete in cruelty with the ending of a suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth.”

The LGBTQ+ subnetwork of 988 was developed under a bipartisan mandate to offer tailored support to high-risk groups, much like the veteran-specific track within the program. In addition to young people, it has provided critical services to adults experiencing distress related to anti-LGBTQ+ violence, legislation, and rejection.

At the hearing, Krishnamoorthi pressed conservative legal activist Daniel Lennington on whether he disputed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from the Trump administration showing LGBTQ+ youth face significantly higher suicide risk. Lennington replied he was “not aware of anything to do with the suicide hotline,” prompting Krishnamoorthi to respond, “That’s the problem—a lack of awareness.”

Krishnamoorthi told The Advocate that the decision to eliminate the program was driven by the Trump administration’s broader campaign against diversity and inclusion initiatives. “Eliminating this lifeline is cruelty because you are essentially discontinuing a service that saves lives,” he said. “In the name of fighting DEI, they’re going to cause a lot of young people to DIE.”

Krishnamoorthi warned that “especially now, during a time when the LGBTQ+ community at large feels tremendous pressure,” the need for the hotline may be “much higher than it was before.”

Krishnamoorthi emphasized the rare bipartisan nature of the letter to Kennedy. “It’s hard to get bipartisan letters, let alone legislation, on topics involving the LGBTQ+ community,” he said. “But this one touches a nerve. I think that young people, whoever they are, still occupy a soft corner in people’s hearts regardless of ideology.”

The Trump administration’s move, first reported in The Advocate in April, was confirmed in the FY2026 budget released during WorldPride in Washington, D.C. Mental health advocates and LGBTQ+ organizations have condemned the proposal as reckless and dangerous.

Mark Henson of The Trevor Project previously told The Advocate the 988 LGBTQ+ subnetwork is “a vital tool” that serves more than 60,000 young people each month. Without it, advocates warn, those calls may go unanswered—or be routed to general crisis lines lacking LGBTQ+ expertise.

In response to a question about his message to young LGBTQ+ people, Krishnamoorthi said he’s met with young people and their parents and understands their pain. “We’ve got to band together at the state level, at the local level to protect whatever rights we can. We must continue to fight for change in the future,” he said.

Krishmamoorthi added, “If we can rally around a group of people, it would be our young people.”

If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.

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Trump Administration Orders Termination of National LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Lifeline, Effective July 17th

*This is reported by The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project received official notice yesterday that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is initiating the closure of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program within 30 days, effective July 17, 2025.

Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, released the following statement in response:

“We received official notice that the Trump administration has ordered the closure of The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program, effective July 17, 2025. This means that, in 30 short days, this program that has provided life-saving services to more than 1.3 million LGBTQ+ young people will no longer be available for those who need it.

“This is devastating, to say the least. Suicide prevention is about people, not politics. 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. 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.

“Congress can still act to reverse this fatal decision. We are asking everyone to join the overwhelming public support for evidence-based crisis services, and urge Congress to act. Learn more by visiting TheTrevorProject.org/ActNow.

“I want every LGBTQ+ young person to know that you are worthy, you are loved, and you belong – despite this heartbreaking news. The Trevor Project’s crisis counselors are here for you 24/7, just as we always have been, to help you navigate anything you might be feeling right now.”

In September 2022, The Trevor Project began providing its best-practice crisis services to LGBTQ+ youth through the 988 Lifeline. When individuals contact the 988 via phone, text, or chat, they are given the option to “press 3” or “reply PRIDE” to be connected with counselors trained specifically to assist LGBTQ+ contacts up to age 25. Initially, The Trevor Project served as the sole provider for the pilot phase of 988 LGBTQ+ youth specialized services, before transitioning to serve as one of seven centers that currently make up the LGBTQ+ Youth Subnetwork.

The Trevor Project serves nearly 50% of the LGBTQ+ youth specialized services’ contact volume. In 2024 alone, The Trevor Project directly served more than 231,000 crisis contacts, and trained and supported nearly 250 crisis counselors and operational support staff to support the 988 Lifeline. Previously, the LGBTQ+ Youth Subnetwork received up to $50 million in restricted federal funds to provide these life-saving services.

The Trevor Project’s supporters in the House and Senate advocated for the continued funding for these life-saving programs. The organization launched a petition to demand lawmakers protect LGBTQ+ youth and an Emergency Lifeline fundraising campaign. On June 2, 2025, more than 100 entertainment icons – across film, music, TV, sports, theater, comedy, fashion, culinary arts, and book publishing – joined The Trevor Project’s sign-on letter to protect federal funding for LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention.

If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.

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VA patient died by suicide at top of hospital’s garage in Syracuse

*Reported by Syracuse.com

A patient at Syracuse VA Medical Center died by an apparent suicide outside the top of the hospital’s parking garage Monday.

Witnesses said the person was wrapped in a body-length transgender pride flag.

The transgender veteran hanged themselves by jumping from the garage, according to a notification the VA gave government officials. The veteran had been discharged from the VA’s inpatient psychiatry unit on Jan. 21, according to the notification.

Passers-by spotted the body at the garage next to the hospital and across the street from Syracuse University’s JMA Wireless Dome at about 11:15 a.m. Monday. That day, syracuse.com reported that a body had been found.

Anne C. Bellows, a professor of food studies, said she was walking back to her office on the top floor of the Falk College building when she and other SU faculty saw the body.

She said the person was wrapped in a body-length flag that was light pink, light blue and white — which she confirmed to be the trans flag.

The Syracuse VA officials declined to answer questions from Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard about the death. A VA spokesperson issued a statement that only confirmed a veteran had died at the VA Monday. It said officials will not provide more details, citing respect to the veteran’s family and an ongoing investigation.

Several members of the SU community reported seeing the body Monday, according to a university community alert.

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Do you have information about the incident Monday? Did you know the veteran and would like to share their story? Please contact Rylee Kirk at 315-396-5961 or rkirk@syracuse.com or Greta Stuckey at 484-379-7395 or gstuckey@syracuse.com.

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Where to get help

If in crisis, help is available by calling, texting or chatting with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

For a Veteran specific crisis line dial 988 and press 1 or text 838255.

For a transgender-specific crisis line, call the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860.

For an LGBTQ+ specific crisis line call 866-488-7386 or text 678678.

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