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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Senate Finance Committee hearing, Washington D.C., January 2025.
Lawmakers say the move to eliminate 988’s LGBTQ+ youth line is “shortsighted and dangerous” and “will have lethal consequences.”
More than 100 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are warning that the Trump administration’s plan to defund the LGBTQ+ youth branch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline would endanger lives, and they’re calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop it.
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“President Trump’s budget threatens to end specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth who contact 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent Tuesday and obtained by The Advocate. “Ending this mental health support for youth in distress would devastate a vital resource for some of our nation’s most vulnerable young people. 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.”
Related: Advocates and health experts worry Trump’s suicide prevention hotline cuts will increase LGBTQ+ youth deaths
The LGBTQ+ subnetwork, reached by pressing “3” after dialing 988, has handled more than 1.3 million contacts since its launch in 2022. According to The Trevor Project, the line averages about 2,100 contacts per day and helps LGBTQ+ youth feel understood, supported, and safe during moments of acute crisis.
Lawmakers emphasized that Congress never intended 988 to be generic. “When Congress established the 988 lifeline, signed into law by President Trump during his first term, we intended it to be a resource for any American experiencing mental distress,” the letter reads. “To a young person feeling alone and scared, 988 is truly a lifeline.”
The Trump administration’s leaked budget draft proposes eliminating funding for LGBTQ+-specific services within 988, part of a broader rollback of public health and LGBTQ+ programs. A White House budget spokesperson later defended the move toAxios, saying that taxpayer dollars should not go to a “chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology…without consent or knowledge of their parents.”
Related: Trump HHS posts ‘so-called report’ pushing conversion therapy for trans kids
Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, which helps operate the LGBTQ+ line, condemned the proposed cuts.
“I am deeply grateful to these members of Congress for speaking out and urging the administration to reverse course on their proposal to end life-saving suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth across the U.S.,” Black said in a statement. “Tailoring suicide prevention services to ensure they’re effective for the most at-risk groups should not be political; it is simply clinical best-practice. I applaud these lawmakers for their vocal support of these evidence-backed, bipartisan crisis services that have already supported an estimated 1.3 million LGBTQ+ youth and counting.”
The House letter follows a similar message from Senate Democrats last week, led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. Baldwin, the first out lesbian U.S. senator, co-authored the 2019 bipartisan legislation that led to the creation of the 988 Lifeline, which Trump signed into law during his first term.
Lawmakers noted that the service was never meant to exclude those most in need. “The specialized services it is able to provide to individuals with a higher risk of suicidality, such as LGBTQ+ youth and veterans, are especially vital to provide high-risk groups with custom support,” the letter continues. “Consideration of cutting off this life-saving resource to vulnerable youth and young adults goes against best practices in suicide prevention.”
Related: Trump administration to defund suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth starting in October
Former Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently toldThe Advocate that the 988 LGBTQ+ option is essential. “For countless LGBTQ+ individuals, the crisis line isn’t just a service — it’s a lifeline,” she said. “It’s what stands between despair and survival, isolation and hope.”
Jean-Pierre warned that removing the service “isn’t just negligent — it’s dangerous.”
While HHS has not publicly said whether it will proceed with the cuts, time is running out. The new fiscal year begins October 1, and the Trevor Project and other providers are scrambling to prepare contingency plans and raise emergency funds.
In their letter, lawmakers said, “We urge that you scrap this ill-advised plan. Our nation’s children deserve nothing less.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit988lifeline.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, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
