LGBTQ+ advocates are calling out the cruelty of the Trump administration as today marks the end of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program, which provides emergency crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth at risk of suicide.

While the hotline will remain accessible, LGBTQ+ youth will no longer be redirected to specialized crisis counselors who can help them work through their unique challenges. The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline, has long worked with the federal government for this specialized program and has said it will lose millions of dollars in federal funding due to the canceled partnership.

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Out Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) called the move “heartbreaking, scary, and deeply harmful.”

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“Every single person is important,” she told Advocate. “It’s unconscionable that leaders aren’t pushing back against this decision that will cost lives.”

In a statement, gay Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) called out Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for failing to keep his promise to meet with Pocan about the issue. The press release says Kennedy stated during a May 14, 2025, House Appropriations Committee hearing that he was “happy to talk about it” more with Pocan but has since ignored his office’s multiple attempts to set something up.

“This hotline has already saved countless lives,” Pocan said. “Unfortunately, in June, Secretary Kennedy’s agency announced plans to terminate the dedicated LGBTQ+ lifeline by July 17, 2025. Since that announcement, my office has reached out multiple times to request a meeting with him to discuss this proposed plan, based on his prior agreement to speak, but we have been unable to get a response.”

“This shortsighted and dangerous plan undermines 988’s ability to provide tailored support for a population with a higher risk of suicide and will have lethal consequences if enacted. I urge the Secretary to meet expeditiously to discuss this further.”

In May, over 100 House Democrats signed a letter to Secretary Kennedy asking him to reconsider his “ill-advised” and “dangerous” plan to eliminate the funding. The letter was similar to one issued by seven Democratic U.S. senators requesting the same thing.

The letters noted that LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, and that the 988 hotline for LGBTQ+ youth has recently received an average of 2,100 contacts per day and, since 2022, it has received over 1.3 million calls, texts, and chats.

There’s proof that the anti-LGBTQ+ policies of the current presidential administration are increasing feelings of suicidality among queer youth. Calls into The Trevor Project’s suicide prevention services increased by 33% on Inauguration Day compared to weeks prior, and there was also a 700% increase on November 6, 2024, the day after the presidential election.

An HHS spokesperson told Advocate that canceling the specialized service was merely a funding issue.

“The Press 3 option is managed by a third party outside of the federal government. As of June 2025, more than $33 million in funds have been spent, fully exhausting the Congressionally directed funds allocated for LGB+ subnetwork services.” They claimed that maintaining the subline would have meant moving some funds from the main line, “thereby compromising the entire system.”

“The 988 Lifeline will continue to be a direct connection to immediate support for all Americans, regardless of their circumstances,” they said. “That has not changed.”

This, however, is inconsistent with a previous statement from the administration.

“[The newly proposed budget] does not… grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by ‘counselors’ without consent or knowledge of their parents,” Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, said in June.

The administration also somehow found billions of extra dollars to allocate toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The One Big Beautiful Bill dedicates $75 billion to the agency – which the administration is using to terrorize Hispanic communities – over the next four years, marking an increase in its annual budget from $8.7 billion to a whopping $27.7 billion. The Independent pointed out that ICE’s budget is now larger than that of most militaries in the world.

And yet, somehow, there is not enough money to protect LGBTQ+ youth.

If this story affected you, just know you are not alone. The Trans Lifeline Hotline offers support to trans/nonbinary people struggling with mental health from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. PST Monday-Friday. Call (877) 565-8860 to be connected to a trans/nonbinary peer operator and receive full anonymity and confidentiality. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth ages 24 and younger, can be reached at (866) 488-7386.

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