Crisis calls to an LGBTQ+ mental health center skyrocketed on Monday as Donald Trump was sworn in as president and reaffirmed his commitment to dismantling LGBTQ+ rights.
The Rainbow Youth Project USA Foundation hotline received over 1,400 calls by early Monday afternoon, Advocate reported. Before Trump won the election, the organization fielded about 3,765 calls per month.
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“Our hotline serves as a critical lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth grappling with the challenges of bullying, social stigmatization, and the looming threat of institutionalized discrimination,” Kristen Johnston, case manager and crisis team leader at the Rainbow Youth Project USA Foundation, said in a statement. “The data we’re seeing is alarming, and it underscores the urgent need for advocacy, community support, and immediate action to protect our youth.”
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Calls to the organization’s hotline have increased significantly since Donald Trump’s election victory as well. In November and December, the number of calls more than doubled, with mover 8,000 people contacting the hotline each month. And in the first 19 days of January, there had already been almost 4000 calls.
Donald Trump’s speech on inauguration day included a declaration that “as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” He also promised to end “the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”
Immediately upon taking office, Trump also signed an executive order defining sex as based on reproductive biology at birth, banning trans and nonbinary people from obtaining federal IDs that reflect who they are, and also banning federal agencies from enforcing the principle behind the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton Co., which found that anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination necessarily involves discrimination on the basis of sex.
He also signed an executive order repealing former President Joe Biden’s executive order that allowed out transgender people to serve in the military. The move doesn’t immediately ban trans people from serving in the military but paves the way for a future order from Trump to ban trans servicemembers.
He rescinded two other Biden-era orders that protect LGBTQ+ people. Executive Order 14021 – Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free From Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity – ordered the Department of Education to implement policies to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ students in schools that receive federal money.
Executive Order 14075 – Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals – took aim at conversion therapy and expanded foster care protections for LGBTQ+ parents and youth. It directed the Department of Health and Human Services to create new policies to protect LGBTQ+ families and the Education Department to protect queer and trans kids in schools in light of an epidemic of state laws attacking LGBTQ+ people. It is now repealed.
“Today’s expected executive actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community serve no other purpose than to hurt our families and our communities,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect in all areas of their lives. No one should be subjected to ongoing discrimination, harassment, and humiliation where they work, go to school, or access healthcare.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.
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