XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
XPost: alt.politics.homosexuality, alt.transgendered

The Trump administration will shut down the national LGBTQ youth suicide lifeline in 30 days.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced Tuesday that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer
use its LGBTQ youth services, also known as the “Press 3 option,”
effective July 17.

The agency said it will "no longer silo LGB+ youth services" — notably removing the "T" representing the trans community in the initialism — to "focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served
through the Press 3 option."

The Press 3 option rolled out as a pilot program in 2022 in a government contract with the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis
intervention organization for LGBTQ people. Those in need of help would
call 988 and be given the option to “press 3” to connect with counselors trained to assist people up to age 25.

The Trevor Project was initially the sole provider of the
youth-specialized service, and it is now one of seven centers that make
up the LGBTQ Youth Subnetwork.

It came about under legislation President Donald Trump signed during his
first term that acknowledged disproportionately high suicide rates among
LGBTQ youths.

SAMHSA insisted that affected youths can still receive help, but from
the general hotline number.

“Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access
to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help
with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other
kind of emotional distress. Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue
to receive compassion and help,” the agency said.

Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black called the decision “devastating,”
adding, “Suicide prevention is about people, not politics.”

He said the program has provided lifesaving services to more than 1.3
million LGBTQ young people.

“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," Black said in a statement.

He called upon Congress to reverse the decision — and assured the public
that the Trevor Project will continue to help those in crisis.

“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,” Black said.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed budget for 2026 eliminated the hotline’s youth-specialized services program this month.

Asked for comment about that proposed cut, Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson
for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the proposed
budget wouldn’t “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.”

That term, "radical gender ideology," is one that conservatives and the
Trump administration have adopted to describe transgender people and the
trans rights movement, which it considers harmful to children.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/trump-administration-shut-lgbtq- youth-suicide-hotline-rcna213815

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)