The Trump administration is once again targeting LGBTQ+ youth — this time by ending the contract between LGBTQ+ nonprofit group The Trevor Project and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
A suicide prevention nonprofit, The Trevor Project was founded in 1998 to address the high rate of mental health problems and suicidal ideation that LGBTQ+ youth face. According to 2024 data from the group, close to 39 percent of queer youth consider attempting suicide, a rate that is heavily impacted by anti-LBTQ+ policies and administrations. The nonprofit says it’s helped more than 1.3 million LGBTQ+ youth since it was started.
Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black announced Wednesday that the group has been given a stop work notice ending its “Press 3” program with the federal government. Introduced in 2022, the “Press 3 option” allowed Suicide & Crisis Lifeline callers to be connected with a mental health counselor who specialized in LGBTQ+ issues and concerns. In a statement, SAMHSA called the shuttering of the “Press 3” program a move to “focus on serving all help seekers” through the suicide hotline. But the statement only mentioned the LGB+ community, omitting the markers for transgender and queer individuals, continuing the Trump administration’s outsized targeting of the transgender community.
“Counselors who supported the press three option were trained specifically to support LGBTQ+ young people, because having someone who truly understands the unique needs and challenges of LGBTQ+ young people isn’t just helpful. It can be the difference between saving a life or losing one,” Black said in a video statement. “When a questioning youth calls because they’re terrified and they’re alone, they need someone who can say, ‘You are not broken, you are loved exactly as you are.’ When a transgender teenager calls because they’re being bullied at school and contemplating suicide, they need someone who knows that their identity isn’t a phase to be counseled away.”
Representatives for the Trevor Project did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment. According to Black’s statement, the stop work order gives the Trevor Project 30 days before the LGBTQ+ option of the national suicide lifeline is shuttered. Young people who require help will still be able to contact The Trevor Project directly.
“This is this is not about politics. This is about people. This is your neighbor’s kid. This is your coworker’s daughter who sees no tomorrow. This is someone’s baby who just needs to know that they matter,” Black added. “Every LGBTQ+ youth, listen. Your life has meaning. You are our artist and athletes and dreamers and leaders, and you are perfect just the way you are. You are our future, and we will never stop fighting for you.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Dial 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ+ youth, is 1-866-488-7386. Find other international suicide helplines at Befrienders Worldwide (befrienders.org).